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BENARNEWS- With less than two months left until Thailand holds a controversial constitutional referendum, a spokesman for the Thai junta Wednesday defended its move to prevent the political opposition from monitoring the Aug. 7 vote.
"The NCPO needs to keep the peace and take care of the people, therefore the former politicians and other political parties must be careful to not stir up the already calm situation," Col. Piyapong Klinpan, a spokesman for the National Council for Peace and Order – the junta's formal name – told BenarNews.
"Despite comments from international bodies, the NCPO still needs to keep [strict] measures," he said in a phone interview.
Piyapong was referring to a statement issued late Tuesday by Human Rights Watch (HRW), which criticized  Thailand's military-controlled government for "forcibly blocking" efforts by the opposition to scrutinize the upcoming vote through establishing referendum-monitoring centers nationwide.
The U.S.-based global rights watchdog cited a recent public comment by Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha, who warned that anybody monitoring support for the proposed charter could be arrested or tried before a military court.
Prayuth's government this week stopped a plan by the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) to set up referendum-monitoring centers across the country. On Sunday, Thai police raided the UDD's headquarters in Bangkok and cancelled a ceremony to inaugurate the monitoring campaign, according to media reports.
The UDD is a political faction associated with the Red Shirts, who are aligned with the Pheu Thai party of former prime ministers Thaksin Shinawatra and Yingluck Shinawatra. Thaksin was deposed in a military coup in 2006, and his sister Yingluck was toppled by a coup led by Prayuth two years ago.
In its statement, HRW called on Thailand to put an immediate stop to "arbitrary restrictions on free expression, permit open discussion of the draft constitution, and ensure a fair referendum."
"The Thai junta is using threats and intimidation to bludgeon people into supporting a constitution that would prolong military rule," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "The generals expect the Thai people to just shut up, obey their orders, and approve their draft constitution without any discussion or debate."
Human Rights Watch also urged the United Nations and Thailand's allies to intervene over the issue.
"The U.N. and Thailand's friends around the world should publicly make clear to Bangkok that they will only recognize a referendum that meets international standards," Adams said. "A free and fair referendum affecting Thailand's future can't be held when the rights of people to speak and exchange their views is suppressed."
In the run-up to the referendum, the junta has also imposed a ban on criticism of the proposed charter through a new law that prohibits "misleading or rude speech" related to the issue. On June 1, the office of the Thai Ombudsman announced that it was asking Thailand's Constitutional Court to rule whether the new law – Section 61 in particular – was unconstitutional. The court has yet to issue a ruling on the matter.
The referendum in early August will be the first time that Thais will be going to the polls since the military seized power in May 2014.
They will be voting on a proposed constitution, which has drawn criticism from at home and aboard, because a "yes" vote in the referendum would allow the junta to hand-pick all 250 members of the Thai Senate, including six officers from the military's top brass – thus consolidating its control over government in Thailand, according to critics.


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BENARNEWS- A memorandum of understanding on migrant labor, which Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi will sign with the Thai government later this week, will make it easier for Myanmar migrants to work legally in Thailand, according to a copy of the document's provisions obtained by BenarNews.
Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar's de facto leader, will begin an official three-day visit to neighboring Thailand on Thursday, during which she will meet with Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha the following day to discuss issues related to refugee repatriation and bilateral relations, especially labor and development cooperation.
The two will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the Labor Cooperation Agreement on Employment of Workers and Agreement on Border Crossing, according to Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The agreement reduces the current work-break period from three years to one month so that migrant workers will not have to return to Myanmar after working four years in Thailand, and then spend three years in their home country before they can return to work in Thailand, where they earn higher wages.
Another provision specifies that Thailand will issue a certificate of identity for migrant workers at designated nationality verification centers in Myanmar to allow unimpeded travel within Thailand and between the country and Myanmar.
The Migrant Workers Rights Network (MWRN), an organization for migrant workers from Myanmar who live and work mainly in Thailand, opposes the issuance of the certificates, arguing the process will be costly and prone to corruption.
After officials from Myanmar and Thailand met in February, Thailand began reissuing temporary "pink cards" to undocumented migrant workers and to those whose passports and work visas were about to expire, the Myanmar Times reported. They extended the validity of the cards for two years with a possible two-year renewal, giving migrants more time to obtain permanent legal documents from Myanmar.
The MOU also says the two countries will improve protections provided to Myanmar migrant workers entering Thailand legally, and will create a committee to finalize processes on the issuance of documents for migrant workers, migration costs, and measures to prevent exploitation.
The agreement also calls for the establishment of entry and departure centers to educate Myanmar migrant workers on Thailand's customs, culture, and laws, and for migrant coordination centers to assist abused workers according to Thai law and procedures.
Myanmar puts the number of migrant workers living in Thailand at 4 million with only half legally registered to work there, while Thailand's Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare puts the number at more than 1.4 million, with most from the Karen, Mon, and Shan ethnic minority groups.
Many migrant workers are at risk in Thailand of being trafficked as sex workers or for hard labor on fishing boats. Granting the largely undocumented Myanmar workforce in Thailand permanent status has been the subject of negotiations between the two countries.
Seafood industry workers
Aung San Suu Kyi, who also holds the title of foreign minister and minister of the President's Office, will begin her three-day state visit in the Thai capital Bangkok.
She will then go to the heavily Myanmar-populated Mahachai district of central Thailand's Samut Sakhon province outside Bangkok to address about 3,000 migrant laborers who work in the seafood industry.
Thirteen Thailand-based activist groups for workers have arranged for the migrant laborers to attend the meeting and ask Aung San Suu Kyi questions. About 500 people will be permitted inside the hall where she will speak, while the rest will watch her on large screens outside.
Many workers in Mahachai, one of Thailand's main seafood distribution centers, are taking off work to hear Aung San Suu Kyi's address and tell her that they want to be able to renew their passports in Thailand rather than have to travel back home to do so.
The workers say that the combined trip and renewal fee are costly, and that some have lost their jobs in Mahachai waiting for their documents to be processed in Myanmar.
In the meantime, local Thai authorities have cancelled Aung San Suu Kyi's visit on Saturday to the Tham Hin refugee camp in Ratchaburi province, west of Bangkok, the online journal The Irrawaddy reported, citing sources close to the camp administration who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of issues concerning the camp.
No reason was given for the cancellation of the camp visit, the report said.
More than 6,000 Myanmar refugees live at the camp, which is the second-smallest of nine refugee camps along the Thailand-Myanmar border, it said.


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BENARNEWS- Aung San Suu Kyi met with a few hundred migrant workers from Myanmar during a visit to Thailand on Thursday, while thousands of others waited in the rain outside the factory where she spoke, hoping she would address the crowd.
Myanmar's de facto national leader, who also holds the positions of state counselor, foreign minister, and minister of the President's Office, met for about 45 minutes with migrant laborers in the Mahachai district of central Thailand's Samut Sakhon province outside Bangkok.
She is visiting Thailand in her capacities as foreign minister and state counselor.
Aung San Suu Kyi made the stop in Mahachai as part of an official three-day visit to the neighboring country, where she will meet with Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha on Friday and sign an agreement that will make it easier for Myanmar migrants to work legally in Thailand.
"Burmese people have to live in Thailand as guests, and as such, the hosts will respect the guests," she told the fewer than 500 migrant workers inside the building. "The Myanmar embassy must help Burmese workers in Thailand."
Aung San Suu Kyi also told the migrant laborers that she was trying to secure proper identification documents for them to work legally in Thailand.
"We are trying to make sure our citizens obtain their fundamental rights granted by the laws of this country," she said.
The chosen few
Thirteen Thailand-based activist groups for workers arranged for roughly 500 migrant workers to attend a question-and-answer session with Aung San Suu Kyi inside the factory.
But those who attended were chosen by their Thai bosses, said Htoo Chit, executive director of the Thailand-based migrant rights group Foundation for Education and Development.
"We thought one or two representatives from the 13 Thailand-based activist groups for workers that arranged for the migrant laborers to see Aung San Suu Kyi would have a chance to attend the meeting," he said. "But it seems only the workers who were chosen by Thai bosses attended."
"The workers who are really suffering couldn't see Aung San Suu Kyi," he said. "That's why a lot of workers are in front of the hall and are showing their dissatisfaction."
The discussion was limited partly because those allowed to attend the meeting earn the official minimum wage and have acceptable work conditions, the online journal The Irrawaddy reported.
Authorities in Thailand, which has fallen under military dictatorship during the same period that Myanmar has emerged from army rule, prevented labor rights groups from submitting documents to Aung San Suu Kyi about labor right-violations experienced by migrant workers from Myanmar, the report said.
Keep them in line
Meanwhile, hundreds of Thai security personnel were stationed to keep in line thousands of others who waited in the pouring rain for a glimpse of Aung San Suu Kyi, as they chanted her name, waved Myanmar flags, and sang the country's national anthem.
Aung San Suu Kyi's office released a statement saying that the state counselor knows very well about the problems that Myanmar migrant workers face in Thailand, and that she was disappointed she could not greet all those who waited for her in heavy rain.
Many migrant workers in Thailand – especially those in the country illegally – are at risk of being trafficked as sex workers or for slave-like labor on fishing boats.
Granting the largely undocumented Myanmar workforce in Thailand permanent status has been the subject of negotiations between the two countries.
But the memorandum of understanding that Aung San Suu Kyi will sign with Prayuth includes provisions to provide proper identity documents for migrant workers and assurances they will be protected from any labor abuses.
Myanmar puts the number of migrant workers living in Thailand at 4 million, with only half legally registered to work there, while Thailand's Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare puts the number at more than 1.4 million.
Also on Thursday, Thai authorities abruptly prevented human rights groups from holding a news conference in the Thai capital Bangkok on the plight of Myanmar's 1.1 million Rohingya Muslims, saying that the groups could violate the law by causing unrest, international newswire services reported.
Rights groups have criticized Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) government for not doing enough to help the stateless and persecuted Rohingya in western Myanmar's Rakhine state, whom the Buddhist majority considers illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.
Before police cancelled the news conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand (FCCT), they allowed Hajee Ismail, managing director of the Rohingya Peace Network to read out a letter demanding that Aung San Suu Kyi amend Myanmar's laws to recognize Rohingyas as citizens and to refer to them as "Rohingya."
"I would like all parties to call Rohingya Rohingya. Do not change the name of Rohingya because this is the original name for Rohingya," Hajee told reporters at the FCCT.
Myanmar's state counsellor, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has voiced reluctance to use the word "Rohingya." Last month, during a joint press conference with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Aung San Suu Kyi described the word as "incendiary."
"[W]e've got to be very firm about not using emotive terms ... because emotive terms make it difficult for us to find a peaceful and sensible resolution of our problems," she said in response to a question from a correspondent for Radio Free Asia, a sister entity of BenarNews.
Plight of the Rohingya
Aung San Suu Kyi's visit to Thailand coincides with a 12-day mission by Yanghee Lee, the U.N. envoy for human rights in Myanmar, who visited Rohingya living in refugee camps in Rakhine's Sittwe township.
Lee is on her fourth trip to Myanmar to observe the country's human rights situation especially that of the minority Rohingya Muslims, and to collect information for a report she will submit to the U.N. in September.
About 120,000 Rohingya live in the camps, forced there following communal violence with Rakhine Buddhists four years ago that left more than 200 dead and tens of thousands homeless.
When Lee met with Rohingya in the camps, they told her about the plight of refugees in Rakhine and the impoverished state's need for development.
Muslim leaders asked her to help remedy the denial of their rights to social services and education, freedom of movement, and business operations.
Lee also met with ethnic Rakhine Buddhists who voiced concerns over her visit, saying that she favors the Rohingya.
"We asked her to submit a fair report with opinions from both sides," said Kaung San Shee, a Rakhine community leader in Sittwe. "We also asked her to understand the feelings of local Rakhine ethnics."
"I think it was beneficial to meet with her because we could explain the situation in the state," he said.
Since Lee's last trip to Myanmar in August 2015, the NLD government, which came to power in April, has created a committee to work on peace and development in Rakhine.
It also plans to spend more than 70 billion kyat (U.S. $5.9 million) to finance goods and services that promote human resources there.
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Rohingya Muslim men and boys arrive for Friday prayers at a camp in Sittwe, western Myanmar's Rakhine state, June 10, 2016. [ AFP]
USDP weighs in
Nevertheless, the government has stirred up controversy by ordering state media not to use the term "Rohingya" during Lee's visit, and to use the phrase "Muslim community in Rakhine" instead.
On Thursday, the former ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) weighed in on the matter, issuing a statement pointing out that it had clearly objected to the use of the term "Rohingya," and saying that the current administration should have obtained consent from the ethnic Rakhine people before mandating the use of "Muslim community in Rakhine."
The statement also urged the NLD government to resolve the problem by using a phrase that is in accordance with Article 364 of the 2008 constitution, which forbids "the abuse of religion for political purposes" and places restrictions on political activities and ethnic groups that have an impact on freedom of religion.
When the USDP ruled Myanmar from 2011 to the end of last March, it did not include the Rohingya on the country's official list of ethnic groups and refused to accept the term because the majority Buddhists in Rakhine rejected it, the statement said.
Attempts by RFA's Myanmar Service to contact members of the USDP's media office for comment were unsuccessful.
Pimuk Rakkanam contributed to this report.


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BENARNEWS- One person was shot dead and eight others were injured Sunday in a series of bomb explosions in Thailand's restive Deep South, Thai security officials said Monday.
The latest round of violence brought to six the number of people killed in attacks that have injured at least 36 others across the predominantly Muslim region since the fasting month of Ramadan began on June 7, officials said.
Between Feb. 10 and the beginning of Ramadan at least 40 people have been killed amid a surge of violence in the Deep South, where more than 6,000 people have died since a separatist insurgency re-ignited in 2004.
A Thai army general Monday warned residents of the Deep South to watch out for more violence in the final days of the holy month, which lasts till the end of the first week of July.
"During the last 10 days of Ramadan before Eid-al-Fitr, perpetrators will take this time to step up their violence," Maj. Gen. Chinawat Mandej, deputy commander of the 4th Army Region, which covers the Deep South, told reporters Monday.
Chinawat on Monday visited the site of a car-bombing that injured two police officers and four civilians a day earlier along a road next to the Ban Sungai Kolok school in Narathiwat province.
The perpetrators used a car that was involved in the bombing of a shopping center in Koh Samui, Surat Thani province, on April 10, 2015, Sungai Kolok Police Chief Kongat Suwannakham said.
The car was one of three vehicles linked to that incident, which injured seven people on the resort island of Koh Samui, but the car was not destroyed then. It was repainted and reused by suspected militants identified as Hasueming p**t and Sukeeman Kubaru.
The chief said he planned to issue an arrest warrant and request for extradition with Malaysian police, because the suspects had likely already fled to Malaysia.
[https://www]Among other incidents reported on Sunday, two suspects on a motorcycle shot and killed Abdulloh Doh, the  imam of the Ban Kumang Mosque in Yaring district, Pattani province, according to police. And on Monday, another bomb blast injured a paramilitary member of a school security team in Pattani's Panarea district, police Maj. Pongsakorn Wanthong said.
Violent incidents plague the provinces along Thailand's southern border where the insurgency has dragged on for decades. Police typically pin the blame on insurgents; notoriously elusive rebel groups neither claim nor deny responsibility for attacks.
People familiar with the region say criminal syndicates on the ground foster a climate of fear so they can operate with impunity. Military spokesman Col. Pramote Prom-in recently told BenarNews that only 5 percent of violence in the Deep South was linked to the insurgency.
Police released this image of suspects in a car bombing outside the Ban Sungai Kolok school, June 26, 2016. (CCTV photo/Sungai Kolok police)
An earlier version incorrectly reported that at least seven people were injured a series of attacks since Sunday.


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Military-ruled Thailand on Tuesday lost out to Kazakhstan by a wide margin of votes in its campaign to win a non-permanent seat on the U.N.'s prestigious Security Council.
Thailand received only 55 votes out of 193 votes cast by all of the members of the U.N.'s General Assembly, according to information released by the United Nations.
At least 138 member-states voted for Kazakhstan to become the next non-permanent representative for Asia on the Security Council, General Assembly President Mogens Lykketoft said in reading out the vote tally, which was broadcast on U.N. television.
Like Thailand under the junta, Kazakhstan, a central Asian republic and former Soviet state, has been the focus of international criticism for its human rights record and authoritarian style of rule. Starting in January 2017, Kazakhstan for the next two years will occupy the regional seat on the council held by Malaysia.
Thailand has spent at least 500 million baht (U.S. $14.1 million) in campaigning for the prestige of being elected to the non-permanent seat, Thai media reported. The Security Council is made up of five permanent members with veto power – the United States, Russia, China, France and Great Britain – and 10 non-permanent that represent the regions of the globe.
Apart from Kazakhstan, Bolivia, Sweden and Ethiopia were elected to non-permanent seats on Tuesday, while Italy and Netherlands were battling one another late in the day for election to a fifth non-permanent seat on the council, according to news reports.
Thai officials could not be reached immediately for comment. But before the vote on Tuesday, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha expressed the hope that a majority of members of the world body would elect Thailand to the Security Council.
"[It] will be a good opportunity for Thailand to comment in the world forum. Thailand will be able to present issues of the Group of 77 countries and agenda to the United Nations," Prayuth told reporters in Bangkok after a cabinet meeting.
Open letter from rights watchdog
Prayuth is the former general who led a military coup that toppled the civilian-led government of Yingluck Shinawatra in May 2014.
Since then, the junta – formally known as the National Council for Peace and Order – has been widely criticized for implementing policies that have repressed free speech in the country.
On the eve of the U.N. vote on Thailand's candidacy, New York-based Human Rights Watch sent an open letter addressed to Prayuth, in which it called on his government to make good on a commitment to upholding human rights that Bangkok had included in its candidacy for the security council.
"Since you led the seizure of power on May 22, 2014, the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) has severely repressed fundamental rights and freedoms that are critical elements for democratic rule," wrote Brad Adams, Asia director for Human Rights Watch.
The letter delved into a long list of alleged repressive policies carried out under the junta. HRW detailed media censorship, arrests of government critics and others prosecuted under Thailand's strict Lese-Majeste royal defamation law, so-called "attitude adjustment" detention sessions, and detentions of those who have criticized or questioned a controversial constitutional referendum coming up on Aug. 7.
"Thailand's campaign for a Security Council seat highlights a human rights policy guided by the principles of 'reaching out, hearing out and respecting the views of all,'" Adams said, citing the Aide-Memoire submitted by Thailand in its council candidacy.
"But since the May 2014 coup, the government has enforced media censorship, placed increased surveillance on the Internet and online communications, and aggressively restricted free expression. The NCPO has also suppressed the views of persons openly critical of its policies and practices by using arrests and trials in civilian and military courts," he went on to say.


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BENARNEWS- The U.S. government on Thursday removed Thailand from its list of countries that fail to meet minimum standards for combating human trafficking, citing tougher laws and increased prosecution of traffickers.
The removal comes a year after the military government of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha launched a crackdown on human trafficking, vowing to solve a problem that past civilian governments failed to overcome. The State Department upgraded Thailand from Tier 3 to the Tier 2 Watch List in its annual report on the state of human trafficking worldwide.
"Labor trafficking investigations increased; however widespread forced labor in Thailand's seafood sector continued to occur," the U.S. State Department said in its Trafficking in Persons Report 2016 (TIP).
"The government increased efforts to hold government officials complicit in trafficking crimes criminally accountable; however, official complicity continued to impede progress in combating trafficking," it said.
The TIP is an annual report that gauges how each country performs in combating human trafficking on its territory. Countries on the bottom-most Tier Three may face certain sanctions from the U.S. government. Elsewhere, Malaysia remained on the Tier 2 Watch List, while Indonesia, India and Bangladesh all stayed a notch above that level - at Tier 2.
"When we talk about "human trafficking," we're talking about slavery – modern-day slavery that still today claims more than 20 million victims on any given time," U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Thursday in releasing the TIP Report.
"Modern slavery doesn't happen only in warzones. It exists in areas of both darkness and plain sight of people all over the world – even at sea," he said, before noting a New York Times report that told the story of a Cambodian who ended up in chains aboard a fishing boat after being trafficked into Thailand.
'Those who sweat for this will be satisfied': Thai deputy PM
TIP 2016 placed Thailand on the "Tier 2 Watch List" of countries that are "making significant efforts" to meet minimum standards spelled out in U.S. law but in which the absolute number of human trafficking victims "is very significant or is significantly increasing."
However, a coalition of human rights, labor and other groups criticized the State Department's promotion of Thailand on TIP rankings, telling Secretary Kerry in a letter that it would "undermine international efforts to significantly and permanently improve working conditions among migrant workers in Thailand."
"We are very disappointed at this decision, which does not, in our view, accurately assess the situation on the ground," Judy Gearhart, executive director of the International Labor Rights Forum – of the groups that signed the letter – said in a news release.
"Migrant workers are still one of the most vulnerable groups in the country to human trafficking, and Thailand has not shown any indication that it intends to allow migrant workers greater access to fundamental rights that would protect them from exploitation," Gearhart added.
In Bangkok, Prawit Wongsuwan, Thailand's deputy prime minister and defense minister who is tasked with tackling human trafficking, welcomed the news.
"[G]overnment officials involved will be pleased. Those who sweat for this will be satisfied," he told reporters at Don Meaung International Airport on Wednesday before leaving for a two-day visit to Myanmar.
"This issue is on national agenda and the prime minister is mindful of this and stresses to all parties involved to solve the problems," he said.
Thailand was relegated to the State Department's lowest ranking in June 2014, shortly after the military seized power in May. It remained on Tier 3 a year later, even as neighboring Malaysia was promoted to the Tier 2 Watch List rank.
Thailand needs to follow through in implementing the new laws that helped earn the promotion, said Phil Robertson, Asia deputy director for the U.S.-based research and lobby group Human Rights Watch.
"Thailand's upgrade will be short-lived unless the government recognizes [that] changing laws is not enough, and that they have to get serious about breaking up the trafficking networks that abuse migrant workers with impunity," he told BenarNews.
"There is still a yawning gap between what gets put in glossy Thai government reports to the international community and what happens on the ground to vulnerable migrant workers. The reality is the changes in law and regulations so far have not meant much in the lives of trafficked Burmese or Cambodian workers," he said.
At risk
There are about 3.5 million migrant workers in Thailand, about 1 million of whom are unregistered, according to a 2012 report by researchers for the International Organization of Migration (IOM) and the Migration Policy Institute, a U.S. think tank. Most come from the neighboring countries of Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia, according to the State Department.
Many migrant workers – especially those in the country illegally – are at risk of being trafficked as sex workers or for slave-like labor on fishing boats.
Also, Thailand has long been a transit country for people being smuggled or trafficked to third countries, including Bangladeshi migrants and Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution in Myanmar.
Thailand launched a crackdown on illegal immigration in May 2015 after 32 graves of suspected undocumented migrants were discovered at traffickers' camps in the jungle in Songkhla, near Thailand's border with Malaysia.
As a result of the crackdown, 92 suspects including a three-star general are being prosecuted. Their trial is the largest human-trafficking case in Thailand's history.
Matthew Smith, an expert on illegal migration in Southeast Asia, told BenarNews in April that in some respects the situation for victims of trafficking had "improved drastically" over the past year.
"This time last year there were several thousand Rohingya being held in torture camps in Thailand. Today, those camps no longer exist," said Smith, director of the NGO Fortify Rights.
However, he said, not all graves sites had been discovered and investigated.
"I've personally visited grave sites that were not included in the discoveries last year. We have reason to believe bodies litter the terrain in certain parts of Songkhla and other areas in the south. Thai authorities would be wise to continue the investigation, which at present is closed."


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BENARNEWS- Updated at 8:55 a.m. ET on 2016-07-08
The Thai military has summoned five Muslims from Thailand's restive Deep South for so-called "attitude adjustments" after a group photo of the men appeared on social media showing them in T-shirts that might be seen as promoting regional independence, officials said Thursday.
The men (pictured) were summoned for indefinite interrogation and detention sessions for wearing shirts that featured a map of Thailand's five southern border provinces and a Malay-language message that read "The Great Land of Northern Malayu," according to officials.
Authorities said they were also looking for people who flew a banner outside a mosque in Pattani province that called for self-determination for the predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking region, where a separatist insurgency has lasted for decades. More than 6,500 people have died in violence linked to the conflict since it re-ignited in 2004.
Col. Pramote Prom-in, a spokesman for the forward office of Internal Security Operations Command Region 4 (ISOC 4), told reporters that government lawyers were considering whether the T-shirts and the banner could be construed as rebellious.
"The ISOC 4 has asked its legal section to see if the actions have violated any Thai laws or if they have instigated acts of rebellion," Pramote said.
"The security forces know all five [men pictured wearing T-shirts]. Initially we have ordered the field units to summon them to talk because the actions are close to offending laws," he later told BenarNews, adding, "We called them for attitude adjustment."
The five men in the photo are former members of PERMAS, an association of Muslim students in Thailand's Deep South region, sources said.
Hundreds summoned since 2014
Since seizing power in a military coup in May 2014, Thailand's junta has rounded up government critics and journalists for "attitude adjustments."
Those adjustments began the day after Gen. Prayuth Chan-o-cha – the current prime minister – took power, and 22 members of Pheu Thai – the party of deposed Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra – were summoned for such sessions.
Since then, more than 900 people have been ordered to undergo adjustments at military camps or through home visits, according to iLaw, a human rights advocacy group.
Provocative banner
In the incident in which authorities were looking for the perpetrators, unidentified men flew the banner at the Thadan Mosque in Pattani's Yaring district.
The banner said "self-determination" and included an Arabic excerpt from the Quran that translated into "Allah shall not alter the status of any human races until they changed theirs."
Thadan Mosque is in the same village as the former Jihad Witaya School. Authorities seized the school in 2005 over allegations that it had served as a training center for local insurgents. The allegations led to its headmaster, Doonloh Wae-mano, fleeing the country.
His family is now challenging government plans to turn the property into an Islamic educational center.
Banyan Wae-mano, whose family owned Jihad Witaya before losing it to the government, told BenarNews that he did not understand why the banner was considered illegal.
'Constitutionally indivisible'
The creator of the T-shirt, who asked to not be identified, told BenarNews that the map of five provinces showed the five jurisdictions of Tadika (primary-grade schools) in Pattani, Narathiwat, Yala, Songkhla and Satun, and it was not a call for these five provinces to separate from the rest of Thailand.
MARA Patani, a panel representing southern rebel groups and factions in peace talks with the junta, originally included the five provinces but later dropped Satun in its negotiations with the government, former key negotiator Lt. Gen. Nakrob Boonbuathong had told BenarNews. The most recent negotiations stalled in April just weeks after Nakrob was removed from his role.
The T-shirt creator said he and others were merely promoting education in the five provinces.
However, according to according to Col. Peerawat Sangthong, the spokesman for Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) based in Bangkok, the design on the shirt goes against Thailand's constitution.
"To share those pictures is not appropriate as Thailand is constitutionally indivisible. Such incidents cause negative impact to Thai society," he told reporters.
An earlier version incorrectly identified the ISOC 4 spokesman in Pattani.


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BENARNEWS- With less than a month left until Thailand holds a controversial vote on a new constitution, four activists and a journalist on Monday appeared in a provincial court to face charges of breaching the nation's referendum law, their lawyers said.
The five are the latest to be arrested in junta-governed Thailand over allegations of speaking out against a constitutional referendum set for Aug. 7.
They were produced before a judge in Ratchaburi province and were released after posting bail which was set at 140,000 baht (U.S. $3,982), Anon Nampa, a lawyer with Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR), told BenarNews. Ratchaburi is about 130 km (80 miles) west of Bangkok.
On Sunday, police in the Ratchaburi town of Ban Pong arrested Pakorn Areekul, Anucha Rungmorakot, Anan Lokete – who identify themselves as members of the New Democracy Movement – and Panuwat Songsawatchai, a student at Mae-Jo University in Chiang Mai, on suspicion of possessing documents deemed in violation of the referendum law.
Police arrested them after stopping and searching the car they were traveling in. A man identified as Taweesak Kerdpoka, a reporter for the news website Prachatai who was also in the car, was charged with the four activists.
The activists reportedly were carrying pamphlets and stickers urging voters to vote "no" on Aug. 7.
"The TLHR law team sought bail for them. Each was released on 140,000 baht bail," Anon said, adding that the bail money for the four was raised through public donations via a TLHR-run foundation, and that Prachatai bailed out its reporter.
'What will come next?'
The news of the arrests of the activists and reporter angered NGOs that champion free speech.
Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) called on Thai authorities to drop charges against Taweesak, the Prachatai reporter.
"It is unacceptable that local officials, acting under the junta's authority, fail to distinguish between political activists and a journalist who is covering their activities," Benjamin Ismail, the head of RSF's Asia-Pacific desk, said in a statement.
"As if violating the fundamental freedoms of assembly and opinion were not enough, the authorities are compounding their crimes by also violating freedom of information and media freedom. What will come next? Arresting the journalists who cover these arbitrary arrests? The government must tolerate the media reporting of the critical views of opposition," he added.
In a joint statement, two Thai media association made a similar plea, calling for the charges to be dropped against Taweesak.
"To reason that traveling in the same car with news sources is illegal is unfounded. Because in certain scenarios, reporters may need to board the same car, which is normal," said the statement from the Thai Journalists Association and Thai Broadcast Journalists Association.
No vote 'not illegal': activist
The upcoming vote will mark the first time that Thai will be going to the polls since the military seized power in a coup in May 2014. But the atmosphere in the build-up to the referendum has been the opposite of conducive to free speech, with authorities threatening to arrest anyone who campaigns against the proposed constitution or who criticizes it.
The draft charter has drawn widespread criticism because a "yes" vote would clear the way for a new constitution that would allow the junta to hand-pick all 250 members of the Thai Senate, including six officers from the military's top brass.
In the run-up to the referendum, the junta has banned criticism of the proposed charter through a new law that prohibits "misleading or rude speech" related to the issue. In particular, Clause 2 in Section 61 of the referendum law's prohibits dissemination of messages deemed to be fact-distorting, violent, aggressive, rude, seductive or that could intimidate voters.
Anyone convicted of violation this clause faces up to 10 years in prison.
The activist Pakorn Areekul told supporters and reporters that "to vote 'no' is not illegal" as he was escorted from the Ban Pong police station, according to news reports.
In late June, 13 members of the New Democracy Movement and of a Thai labor organization were rounded up in Bangplee market in Samut Prakarn, south of Bangkok, and charged with defying the junta's order prohibiting political gathering of more than five people, and distributing leaflets in violation of the referendum law.
Last week, the Bangkok Special Prison released seven of them – all students associated with New Democracy Movement.


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BENARNEWS- Thai police and a Myanmar nongovernmental organization that helps migrant workers have rescued 19 trafficked Myanmar fishermen forced to work aboard a fishing boat in slave-like conditions, the director of the NGO said.
The Myanmar Association in Thailand (MAT) and the Anti-Human Trafficking Division (AHTD) of the Royal Thai Police found the men on Sunday in a boat moored off the southern Thai city of Pattani, said MAT director Kyaw Thaung.
They range in age from 13 to 34 and are from southern Myanmar's Mon and Tanintharyi region and from western Rakhine state, he told Radio Free Asia, a sister entity of BenarNews.
"We found and saved the 19 Myanmar fishermen in the Pattani region near the Thailand-Malaysia border," he said.
"They were locked inside an Indonesian fishing boat and couldn't go anywhere," Kyaw Thaung said.
"A police officer from Dawei [in southern Myanmar's Tanintharyi region] called me and gave me this information," he said. "We asked the AHTD for help, and together we found the victims."
The men will be sent to immigration camps in Thailand and return home after six months or a year, he said.
MAT has collaborated with the AHTD for several years to crack down on human trafficking.
Officials make arrests
Thai police have now arrested a Thai businessman and a Myanmar woman from Mon State who were accused of being directly involved in the trafficking, the online journal The Irrawaddy reported.
The woman had promised six of the men jobs that paid about U.S. $260 a month at a factory in Pattaya, a resort city on the Gulf of Thailand, but instead transported them to Pattani, the report said, citing MAT communications officer Sai Aye as the source.
The rescued fishermen testified at the nearby police station that about 80 other trafficked fishermen from Myanmar were also being held against their will at an unknown location in southern Thailand, the report said.
Thailand's fishing industry relies heavily on trafficked and forced labor, especially from Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos, according to a 2014 report issued by the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), a U.K.-based nonprofit organization that focuses on protecting the environment and defending human rights.
Many of the estimated 200,000 migrants from Thailand's neighboring countries have been trafficked and forced to work in appalling conditions with no pay and subjected to brutal subjugation, the report said.
The EJF called on the Thai government to identify and prosecute criminals, corrupt officials and unscrupulous businesspeople and enforce measures to regulate the country's fishing industry and recruitment practices.


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BENARNEWS- Minoh "Grandma Minoh" Tayohderoh, who is thought to be 125 years old, says living a life of goodness and thinking about Allah has been the secret to her longevity.
She was born way back in 1891 in the village of Takae in Yaring, a district in the southern Thai province of Pattani, according to her house registration booklet, a government form that lists the occupants of every home in Thailand. She says she hasn't budged from the village since then.
The form, issued in 1985, states only that she was born in the Thai year 2434 BE, meaning that her life has spanned the rule of five Thai monarchs – from King Rama V through King Rama IX (Bhumipol Adulyadej).
When BenarNews visited Grandma Minoh recently, she explained in the local Patani-Malay dialect that her home was built 150 years ago.
"I was born in this house, numbered 92/1 in village 2 Takae sub-district, in 1891. I have lived here ever since because it is my place of birth. I think I would like to die in this house too," she said, referring to herself as "Moh" or "grandmother."
Thailand's five southernmost provinces – Songkhla, Satun, Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat – are home to 250 people who are aged 100 or older, according to figures compiled by the Southern Border Provinces Administration Center (SBPAC).
SBPAC officials recently visited Grandma Minoh and presented her with a special certificate after determining that she was the oldest of them all.
Despite her age, Grandma Minoh's only health issues are high blood pressure and knee pain. Her fourth husband recently died, but relatives help take care of her, including a grandson and his wife.
"Grandma has good memory, she can remember anything," her grandson's wife, who asked not to be named, told BenarNews.
She said Grandma Minoh still helped support her family with money from a coconut tree plantation and rice fields that she rents.
"She can take a shower. I don't need to help much," the grandson's wife said. "She can do anything by herself."
[https://www]
The house registration form lists Minoh Tayohderoh's date of birth as 2434B.E. (1891A.D.). [BenarNews]
 
 
Life during wartime
Minoh never completed formal studies at any level because her parents did not want her to pursue her education.
"As I child I did enroll at the Ban Takae School, but I never completed my primary education there. At that time parents were wary of sending children to school because they were afraid the teachers would hit the kids," she explained.
Married for the first time at age 16, Grandma Minoh remarried three more times. She had a child with each of her first two husbands.
"They work in Pattani town and asked me to come with them, but I don't want to leave this home," Grandma Minoh said. "They came back at Eid-ul-Fitr. I miss them," she said, adding that she has many brothers, sisters and grandchildren to help her.
She is among few people in the region old enough to remember World War II, when the Japanese Imperial Army landed in several provinces along Thailand's eastern gulf coast, including Pattani.
"Every day I could hear the sound of aircraft passing in the sky overhead. It was deafening and lasted for a long time too. I don't know where they were going, but they did not land here," she recalled.
"Japanese soldiers came and took away the young men. They took bananas and other kinds of food from the villagers too," she said.
"I can remember my father had a favorite ox that he raised by himself and loved very much, but he had to slaughter it and share the meat with the entire village because none of us had food to eat. Going outside the village to find food was frightening at that time," she said.
"Before too long, the war quieted down and things improved as we all went back to our normal ways of life, but I wouldn't describe it as a time of great joy either," she said.
A word from the wise
For most of her life, Thai Buddhists and Malay-speaking Muslims lived together in peace in the Thailand's Deep South despite their religious differences. They made their living by planting fruit and vegetables, growing rice and engaging in commerce. They helped each other as needed, Grandma Minoh said.
This relatively peaceful coexistence eroded, starting in January 2004, when separatist insurgents raided an army ammunition depot in nearby Narathiwat province and made off with more than 400 automatic rifles.
Nearly 7,000 people, mostly Muslims, have died in the ensuing years as a result of the ongoing insurgency and the government response to it.
Grandma Minoh said she has always been a hard worker, whether in the rice fields or as a saleswoman. Pain in her knees ended her career, but she believes that her work ethic allowed her to maintain her strength. She also believes that Allah allows her to live on to teach her descendants to be good people.
"I would like to spread the following message among my descendants and all the younger generations – live your life according to the correct religious principles, as taught by Allah and written in the Quran. If you refrain from bad behavior you will have joy both in this life and in the next," she said.
"As for my everyday life, I am still able to bathe myself and live a life of goodness, reading the Quran and thinking of Allah."


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BENARNEWS- The Thai people are set to vote next month on a new constitution, but a crackdown on dissent is preventing them from debating its merits, critics complain.
The outcome of the Aug. 7 referendum will signal whether Thailand can return to a path of democracy after two years of military rule or whether the generals, who have promised elections next year, will use it to tighten their hold on power, observers say.
Opponents argue that the draft charter will cement a political role for the military. They see the upcoming vote as an empty democratic exercise, because Thais cannot openly voice their concerns about the proposed constitution. The critics cite how the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) – the formal name for Thailand's junta – has clamped down on free speech in the lead-up to the vote.
"Only the conservative elite and the anti-electoral politics people are included in the process," Puangthong Pawakapan, an associate professor of political science at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, told BenarNews.
"They [the military] want to have a weak elected government so that the old power can interfere easily," she added.
Sunai Phasuk of the U.S.-based Human Rights Watch said the junta and members of its appointed Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) have "broadly and arbitrarily" interpreted criticism and dissenting views as "false information and a threat to national security."
"As a result, the only source of information about the draft constitution for many voters comes from the junta-appointed CDC, the military, the election commission and other government agencies – all of which have taken the position that the proposed constitution would benefit the Thai people," Sunai said.
The critics point to some of the most controversial articles in the draft charter, including the appointment of 250 senators by the NCPO, which would have much the same power as elected members of Thailand's 500-seat parliament.
The draft also stipulates that the heads of the army, navy, air force, national police, armed forces supreme command and permanent secretary would occupy six of the 250-appointed senatorial seats – thereby preserving the military's grip on power.
The fact that a prime minister won't necessarily come from a pool of elected parliamentarians, and that laws passed by the junta under an interim constitution would be written into the new charter, also figure among points of concern for its critics.
The 'yes' camp
But supporters of the junta say that Thailand's military rulers, who came to power through a coup in May 2014, are working to restore peace and stability to the country after more than a decade of political unrest.
They blame the country's elected politicians for the years of turmoil and justify the blanket ban on discussion during the run-up to the referendum as temporary but necessary.
Last week, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha authorized government officials to shut down any radio or television stations airing material deemed a threat to national security.
On Thursday, Thailand's broadcasting and telecommunications regulatory agency announced a 30-day ban on Peace TV, a program aired by the opposition Red Shirts, saying the move was needed to prevent discord and instability in the country, according to a report in the Bangkok Post.
The previous week also saw the newsroom of the Prachatai, an online news outlet, being raided after one of its reporters was arrested with university students who were campaigning for a "no" vote in the referendum.
"Arresting peaceful activists is bad enough, but jailing a journalist for reporting on the vote-no campaign is a serious blow to press freedom in Thailand and any hopes that the vote on the constitution will be a fair one," Sunai said.
Sunai called on the U.N. and the international community to ratchet up pressure on Thailand to end arbitrary arrests of dissenters, as well as drop criminal charges against all those who express their political opinions peacefully.
'Peace and order'
The government, however, has made it clear that "inappropriate campaigning" against the draft charter is outlawed and punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Earlier on, police raided the headquarters of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), to prevent it from setting up referendum-monitoring centers nationwide. UDD is a political faction aligned with the Pheu Thai Party of deposed ex-prime ministers Thaksin Shinawatra and his sister, Yingluck.
Thaksin, a telecommunications tycoon who draws support from poor rural folk through his populist policies, was ousted in a coup in 2006. Yingluck served as Thailand's last elected prime minister before being toppled in the coup that brought Prayuth to power two years ago. Thaksin has gone into a self-imposed exile to avoid jail-time after being convicted for corruption.
The current circumstances in Thailand called for "peace and order," NCPO spokesman Col. Piyapong Klinphan told reporters.
The NCPO has not infringed on the rights of the people as long as they respect the law, he maintained.
Piyapong added that distorted information from government critics about the referendum could be driving the ongoing international pressure on Thailand.
'Winning is winning'
Somchai, a Bangkok taxi driver who asked that his last name not be used, said he wasn't planning to vote in the referendum.
"It's about their popularity," he told BenarNews, referring to the junta. "It has no impact on how I make my living."
Despite voters like Somchai deciding to stay away from the polls come the first Sunday in August, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Kreangam has expressed confidence that the referendum will succeed even if turnout is low.
"Even if the margin is just a few thousand, winning is winning," Wissanu told reporters at Government House in Bangkok on July 16, according to The Nation newspaper.


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BENARNEWS- Thai police Friday questioned the wife of a British journalist over "defamatory photos" of Thai royalty that her husband had allegedly shared on social media, even though he was not in Thailand and lives abroad.
Noppawan "Ploy" Bunluesilp, a Thai national married to Andrew MacGregor Marshall, a former correspondent for Reuters who is based in Scotland, was taken in and questioned for four hours at the police Crime Suppression Division (CSD) in Bangkok and then released, her lawyer told BenarNews.
The Kingdom of Thailand has strict laws guarding against royal defamation – known as Lese-Majeste. Cases where people have been arrested or prosecuted for publishing pictures, comments or other content perceived as slights against the royal family have increased sharply since the Thai military seized power two years ago.
First-time offenders can face up to 15 years in prison. Repeat offenders can be sentenced to longer terms.
Police took Noppawan, her father, and 3-year-old son in for questioning after officers raided her father's home in Bangkok and seized her computer, iPad, passport and other items, said her attorney, Weeranan Huadsri.
"They were released and there were no charges pressed. All confiscated items were returned," Weeranan told BenarNews, noting that police denied him access to his clients while they were being questioned.
Noppawan lives in Scotland with her journalist-author husband, who lectures in journalism at Edinburgh Napier University. Marshall, who was visiting Hong Kong on Friday according to reports, issued a statement saying he has been unable to visit Thailand because his writings on the Thai monarchy have been banned under Lese-Majeste.
'Invited' for questioning
Noppawan and her son Charlie were visiting relatives in Thailand.
The incident with police occurred a day after unflattering pictures appeared on Marshall's Facebook page that showed Thai Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn on the tarmac of Munich Airport. The photos had been  published in Bild, a German tabloid, on Wednesday.
Pol. Lt. Gen. Thitiraj Nongharnpitak, commander of the police's Central Investigation Bureau, the central investigation police, which oversees the CSD, told reporters that the photos were doctored and deemed as insulting to members of the royal family.
"Police learned that Andrew and two Thai companions joined a syndicate to produce fake information to post on social media. So police sought a search warrant from Thonburi court and invited his wife for questioning and chatting," Pol. Lt. Gen. Thitiraj said according to local news reports.
Upon learning of his wife's trouble, Marshall posted a video clip online pleading for the release of Noppawan, their son and his father-in-law.
"I am confident [that] when the police look through the computer they confiscated, they will be able to see clearly that Ploy has never been involved in my journalism. The family has never been taken part in my journalism," Marshall said, using his wife's nickname Ploy.
His wife had been a journalist for Reuters and NBC, he said in a separate statement issued to the media.
"There is no reason for police to detain her. If Thai police believe that I have broken Thai law they should seek my extradition to Thailand via legitimate international legal channels. It is unacceptable to harass an innocent woman simply because she is married to me," he said.
Marshall is the author of the controversial book, "A Kingdom in Crisis: Thailand's Struggle for Democracy in the Twenty-First Century," which was published in January 2014.
The book was banned in Thailand because it touches on uncertainty throughout the kingdom over the question of who will succeed Thailand's ailing king, 88-year-old Bhumipol Adulyadej (Rama IX), after he dies.
After police released family, Marshall posted another clip online.
"They questioned her to see if she was involved in any illegal activities linked to me. It seemed they decided she was not, which is quite correct and they let her go. So I would [like to] say 'thank you' to the Thai authorities for acting in a professional manner," he said.


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BENARNEWS- A prominent rights activist from the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu has skipped bail for subversion and fled China in recent weeks, arriving in Bangkok after a grueling journey through mountains and jungle, using Google Maps as a guide.

Zhao Changfu, 46, who is seeking political asylum with the United Nations refugee agency in the Thai capital, said he was fleeing continual persecution by authorities in his hometown of Jiangyin city and a charge of "incitement to subvert state power."

He described his daring escape through southwestern China and neighboring countries in southeast Asia to Radio Free Asia, a sister entity of BenarNews, on Tuesday.

"I went through Guangxi, and got to Yunnan on July 7, and crossed the border on the 8th," Zhao said.

"It took me two or three days to cross Myanmar, and then I got to Laos, where I spent two days before crossing safely into Thailand on July 12," he said.

"I ran into a lot of police on the way. Every time I saw a checkpoint, I took to the hills, taking small roads and pathways and crossing valleys," he said.

"One day, I didn't even eat, because I was walking through the hills," Zhao said. "All I had was water."

"I saw snakes and wild animals: I was terrified," he said. "I was on the road for 10 days."

Zhao said he used Google Maps to navigate his way to Bangkok from China.

"If there was a ride, I took it; if not, I walked. I walked slowly," he said.

Many 'on the run'

However, Zhao isn't out of the woods yet.

Many Chinese refugees in Thailand are effectively on the run, constantly moving around in a bid to evade arrest and deportation on illegal immigration charges, activists have said.

Last November, Chinese asylum seekers Jiang Yefei and Dong Guangping, who had fled persecution in their home country, were handed back to Chinese authorities in a move that drew strong criticism from the U.N.

They are now in pretrial detention in the southwestern city of Chongqing.

Zhao said he heard from friends in China on Monday that the authorities in Jiangyin city have sent four police officers to arrest him, and now fears he may "disappear" in the Thai capital and be bundled in secret aboard a plane back home.

"They told me to watch out for my safety," he said.

Zhao said he felt had no other choice open to him than to escape, however.

"There was nothing else I could do," he said. "I chose to escape because I was out on bail, and I was afraid of political persecution at the hands of the [ruling] Chinese Communist Party."

'A heavy price'

Zhao's troubles began after he went public with reports of a massive toxic algae bloom on China's iconic Taihu Lake, although he went on to help large numbers of people fight for their rights through legal channels, according to the Hubei-based rights group China Rights Observer.

"Zhao Changfu led a large number of people in a campaign to protect their rights in Jiangyin city, a fight in which he refused to surrender," group spokesman Pan Lu told RFA on Tuesday.

"He has paid a heavy price for this rights work. His wife left him, taking his child," he said.

Zhao had also been instrumental in securing the release of five activists recently detained by authorities in the eastern city of Wuxi, Pan said.

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BENARNEWS- Authorities in Thailand's Deep South have charged three human rights activists with criminal defamation over a report that alleged systematic torture of suspected insurgents in Thai military and police custody.
The three activists, who are associated with NGOs that co-published the groundbreaking report six months ago, said they were freed Tuesday after they turned themselves in to police in Pattani province. They went there to answer to charges of defaming the security services and violating Thailand's Computer Crimes Act in connection with the publication of the joint study, their lawyer said.
"The suspects came to acknowledge the charges and denied all charges. They asked for permission to write a testimony to explain the circumstances around the report. The police approved and released them without bail," said lawyer Anukul Awaeputeh, who represents activists Pornpen Khongkachonkiet, Anchana Heemmina and Somchai Hom-la-or.
In May, officials with the regional branch of Thailand's Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC 4) – which covers the insurgency-wracked Deep South – filed a complaint with Pattani police. It named Pornpen, director of the Cross-Cultural Foundation (CrCF); Somchai Hom-la-or, an adviser to CrCF; and Anchana, who is with the Duay Jai (With Heart) Group, as targets of a criminal defamation suit ordered by Army Commander-in-Chief Gen. Teerachai Nakwanich.
The 49-page study, co-published by CrCF, Duay Jai and a third local NGO – the Pattani Human Rights Organization (HAP) – detailed allegations of torture of suspected insurgents in custody between 2004 and 2015. The report cited accounts given by 54 people ranging in age from 19 to 48 years old, who alleged that they had been subjected to physical torture, psychological torture, or other inhumane treatment while incarcerated in the Deep South.
More than 6,500 people have been killed in violence associated with a long-running separatist insurgency in Thailand's predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking southern border region.
Officials have questioned the accuracy of the allegations contained in the report and whether it was one-sided.
After an initial investigation gathered evidence against the three, they were charged with defamation and disseminating false information over the internet, according to Pol. Lt. Col. Winyu Tiemraj, deputy superintendent of Pattani police.
The police summoned them to answer to the charges on June 8, but the three defendants only turned themselves in on Tuesday, he said.
"I think ISOC 4 should not have used this method [a legal suit] against us because we did not produce the report on a personal basis but in the capacity of human rights organizations in order to expose cases of torture in the Deep South so that the government, the public and organizations can learn about the problems and solve them together," Somchai Hom-la-or told reporters outside the police station in Pattani.
A security official who was involved in bringing the complaint against the three also came to meet them. If the three defendants can clarify the allegations of torture that were published in the study or discuss them with senior officials, the military might drop the charges, the official told BenarNews on condition of anonymity.
"[The case] must go according to the law and the prosecution must go at it full throttle. Nevertheless, if they have information to support the claims or just talk to senior officials about it, [we] can withdraw the suit," the official said.
An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that the activists were freed on bail.


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BENARNEWS- Fourteen Myanmar migrants forced to work on an Indonesian fishing boat returned to Myanmar on Tuesday after their government and an international organization arranged their release, the government said.
Government officials and officers from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) welcomed the migrants after they arrived at the airport in the commercial city Yangon, according to a post on the Facebook page of Myanmar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The 14 men were part of a larger group of 19 trafficked Myanmar migrants rescued on July 10 from slave-like conditions on a boat moored off the southern Thai city of Pattani, near the Thailand-Malaysia border.
The ministry did not mention the status of the other five migrants.
The Myanmar Association in Thailand (MAT), a Myanmar nongovernmental organization that helps migrant workers, and the Anti-Human Trafficking Division (AHTD) of the Royal Thai Police had found the men locked inside the boat.
The men range in age from 13 to 34 and are from southern Myanmar's Mon and Tanintharyi regions and from western Rakhine state, said MAT director Kyaw Thaung in a previous report by Radio Free Asia, a sister entity of BenarNews.
Thai authorities have arrested two traffickers, a Thai businessman and a Myanmar woman from Mon State. The woman had promised some of the migrants factory jobs in Pattaya, a resort city on the Gulf of Thailand, but instead transported them to Pattani, the online journal The Irrawaddy reported.
Thailand's fishing industry relies heavily on trafficked and forced labor, especially from Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos, according to a 2014 report issued by the Environmental Justice Foundation, a U.K.-based nonprofit organization that focuses on protecting the environment and defending human rights.
Many of the estimated 200,000 migrants from Thailand's neighboring countries have been trafficked and forced to work in appalling conditions with no pay and subjected to brutal control, the report said.
Migrants in Malaysian camps
In a related development, the Myanmar government said Tuesday that it will bring 3,000 Myanmar migrant workers back from detention camps in Malaysia starting in August.
Thein Swe, minister of labor, immigration and population, told reporters after a parliamentary meeting that the migrants had already served their terms for illegally entering Malaysia.
The workers are from Kyauktaw township in the Sittwe district of western Myanmar's Rakhine state, he said.
Nearly 2,000 migrant workers from Myanmar are being held in camps in Malaysia for various reasons, including immigration violations, according to a recent report in the Myanmar Times.
More than 300 have already served their sentences but they are unable to return to Myanmar because they have no money, the report said.
More than 60 Myanmar workers left the camps and returned home earlier this month after authorities confirmed their citizenship status, it said.
Many Myanmar migrant workers in Malaysia and Thailand—especially those in the country illegally—are at risk of being trafficked as sex workers or for slave-like labor on fishing boats, experts warn.


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BENARNEWS- Although Thailand's junta has banned public criticism of a draft charter in the weeks leading up to next month's constitutional referendum, the Election Commission suddenly has set aside some time and money so that Thais can debate the crucial vote.
The commission this week announced that it had allocated a seven-day block, which would expire on Aug. 3 – so that limited debates on the charter could take place in the country's 77 provinces.
Should they happen, the debates would unfold against a backdrop of boycotts of the Aug. 7 referendum by leading parties and a series of arrests of opponents of the proposed charter.
Election Commissioner Somchai Srisuthiyakorn told reporters on Monday that the EC would allocate funds for debates in each of the provinces on or before Aug. 3.
"We do expect a total of some 400 participants from both pro- and anti-charter camps, to debate on the stage for a maximum of three hours," he said.
Somchai addressed a news conference during a commission-sponsored trip to Samut Prakarn, south of Bangkok, where he observed the printing of ballots for the referendum.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha, the leader of the Thai junta, had requested that the EC sponsor the debates, Somchai said.
The debates could help turn around public opinions of the draft charter.
According to a recent poll by the National Institute of Development Administration, some 60 percent among 1,500 respondents nationwide have not decided how they will vote in the referendum. About one-third of respondents said they would vote for it while a small percentage said they would vote "no."
Ban on criticism
The debates would follow a series of arrests of people opposed to the charter. In the run-up to the vote, the junta had imposed a ban on public criticism of it through a new law prohibiting "misleading or rude speech."
On Wednesday, seven local politicians based in Chiang Mai, were arrested on charges of sedition and distributing misinformation about the draft charter, according to media reports.
Kachen Jiakkhajorn, the mayor of Chang Peauk sub-district, his wife and five others were taken to the 11th Military Circle in Bangkok to face interrogation. The detention stemmed from a confession by a mayoral driver that he was hired by local politicians to disseminated anti-charter leaflets, according to government officials.
In Bangkok, Tassanee Buranupakorn, a former MP with the opposition Pheu Thai party and sister of Kachen's wife, was also detained by the military as she traveled to meet the police chief over the incident.
Skepticism
A majority of "yes" votes on Aug. 7 would enable the military to tighten its grip on power even though Prayuth and the generals last year pledged to stage general elections by the middle of 2017, observers said.
However, the charter's aim is to curb corruption among politicians, said Meechai Richuphand, who headed the Constitution Drafting Committee.
Skeptics point out that the charter's provisions would allow the junta to handpick 250 senators, six reserved for military top brass and the police chief. The senators will pass laws and pick members of independent bodies.
Loyalists of fugitive former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was toppled in a 2006 coup, have staged anti-charter campaigns despite the strict prohibition.
Members of Pheu Thai Party, a third iteration of the political party aligned with Thaksin, also made it clear in March that they would not accept the charter.
"Many parts of the draft constitution conflict with the virtue of democracy and it will create more problems to the nation," a party statement said.
On Wednesday, former Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, who leads the Democrat Party, also voiced his displeasure about the referendum.
"I don't accept the draft charter. Repeat, there are no mentions of electoral system and political parties," he said in a Facebook post. "I don't accept it because it does not respond to the problems the country has. There are no rules and regulations for the country to get out of the same old troubles."
Questioned about Abhisit's statement, Prayuth told reporters: "He looks down on the people as not knowing things or what? Was he meant to insult the intellectuality of the people? People can think and I want them to be strong and independent."


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BENARNEWS- Thai authorities have detained a Chinese college student and political asylum-seeker for having an expired passport, raising concerns that he will be sent home, where he has reported being detained and beaten repeatedly by state security police.

Xu Zhenxin, 19, was detained on Sunday after Thai police asked for his identification en route to the northern city of Chiang Rai, where he had hoped to find work, activists told Radio Free Asia, a sister entity of BenarNews, on Friday.

Fellow Chinese national and Thailand-based asylum-seeker Lu Taizhi said he got a call from Xu, saying he was in police custody.

"He was on his way to Chiang Rai when he ran into some police, who asked to see his passport," Lu said, adding that Xu had applied for political asylum with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). "His passport had expired."

"I informed UNHCR on Monday morning around 9a.m. local time," he said.

Fellow refugee Liu Xiaoying said Xu is being held in the Bangkok Immigration Detention Center alongside another Chinese refugee.

Calls to the detention center in Bangkok rang unanswered during office hours on Friday.

Xu arrived in Thailand last November after taking a cross-border bus to Vietnam and a flight to Bangkok.

He had already received approval for resettlement as a political asylum-seeker, and held a UNHCR letter of protection.

A former freshman student at the Nanjing Post and Telecommunications University, Xu described himself as a political activist who frequently handed out leaflets calling for democratic reform on the streets of the city.

He had been interrogated several times by the city's state security police, who had beaten him at least twice, fellow refugees said.

He also spent a week in a "black jail," an unofficial detention center, they said.

Xu's detention comes amid a growing climate of fear for Chinese dissidents who have sought political refuge in Thailand.

Meanwhile, asylum-seeker Li Xiaolong, whose wife Gu Qiao is facing deportation for illegal immigration after the family were rescued from the wreck of a sailing yacht off the coast of southern Thailand, has been protesting outside UNHCR offices for the past month at a lack of action on their case.

Li said he was allowed to meet with UNHCR officials on Friday to discuss the family's plight.

Li, who speaks no Thai, has no current means of supporting the couple's youngest son.
Torture risk in China
He has complained to U.N. officials that he lacks money to buy milk powder for the child, but they referred him to a refugee camp, he said.

"Partly this is about saving Gu Qiao [from deportation], and partly it's about my own circumstances and my personal safety," said Li, who was detained in early March with his wife, the couple's two children, and fellow refugee Song Zhiyu after a yacht they chartered to sail to Australia capsized off the Thai coast.

Gu, who holds no passport, is being held in an immigration detention center, and recently pleaded guilty to immigration offenses, paving the way for her repatriation.

Li was released on bail with the children, while another refugee who sailed with them, Zhao Wei, was released because he holds a valid Thai visa, as were two other members of the yacht's crew.

Gu was later transferred to the Bangkok Immigration Detention Center from a similar facility in Chumphon, where the rescue operation took place.

Li said Friday's meeting with UNHCR officials was not a success, however.

"There was no Chinese-language interpreter today, so it was impossible to communicate with the officials on Gu Qiao's case," he said.

Calls to the UNHCR representative office in Bangkok rang unanswered during office hours on Friday.

Li, a founding member of the banned opposition China Democracy Party (CDP) from the southwestern province of Guangxi, escaped China with his family in 2014, before being classified a genuine refugee by UNHCR.

He had set up a local chapter of the party while in Thailand, and was also vocal in the campaign to prevent the repatriation of Chongqing-based activists Dong Guangping and Jiang Yefei.

Jiang and Dong, who had fled persecution in their home country, were handed back to Chinese authorities last November, in a move that drew strong criticism from the U.N. They are in criminal detention in Chongqing, where they face subversion charges.

Jiang's wife Chu Ling, and Dong's wife Gu Shuhua and daughter Dong Xuerui flew to Canada from Bangkok for resettlement as political refugees just days after the two men were repatriated. They now fear Jiang and Dong are now at risk of torture and other violations of their rights.


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BENARNEWS- Chinese political refugees in Thailand, many of whom smuggled themselves across Southeast Asia to escape persecution by the authorities back home, say the country is no longer a safe haven for dissidents, as the Thai authorities seem increasingly willing to hand them back to Beijing.

Several Chinese asylum-seekers—some of whom were recognized by the United Nations as genuine refugees—have been deported for immigration violations, throwing the expatriate dissident community into a state of constant fear, some told Radio Free Asia, a sister entity of BenarNews, in recent interviews.

"The Thai government began an operation to round up any foreign nationals who have overstayed their visas," said Wu Yuhua, a rights activist who escaped to Thailand more than a year ago.

"This means that the Chinese refugees are now living in constant fear, every day," she said. "We fear that one day, it'll be us who gets taken in."

Thailand is no longer the safe haven it once was for Chinese dissidents fleeing persecution, according to Wu and many others like her.

"It's not so much being locked up in immigration detention. That's not so bad, but if we get repatriated, we will definitely wind up in jail," Wu said.

Some rights activists never even make it as far as Thailand, she said, citing the case of Liu Jiaqing, who was arrested by police in Myanmar.

"I heard recently he was sentenced to two years' imprisonment," Wu said.

Those who do get to Thailand face the constant threat of detention, as well as official retaliation against loved ones back in China, she said.

Chinese activists in Thailand now face being followed and watched on a regular basis by personnel hired by the Chinese government, refugees say.

"The following, the surveillance, the monitoring: all of this makes it much more risky," said Yu Yanhua, who fled persecution in his hometown of Xuzhou, in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu.

"I don't dare go back to where I am living; I'm too frightened," Yu said. "There is nowhere safe to hide."

Agents everywhere

Fellow asylum-seeker and former Henan rights activist Xing Jian said Thailand now seems to be full of Chinese agents.

"People get suspicious if you ask after them, because China has sent a huge number of agents to Thailand, planting them among the refugees and messing with their relationships," he said.

"The refugees here have very few dealings with one another now, even at the UNHCR," Xing said. "Even if we see them there, we won't go over and greet them."

Zhang Wei, from the southwestern Chinese province of Guangxi, said he was followed by suspected Chinese agents when he helped organize an event commemorating the 1989 Tiananan massacre.

"There were three suspicious-looking people there," he said. "They looked exactly like Chinese state security police, to judge from the way they were dressed."

"Somebody even went to the home of [Thailand-based refugee] Li Xiaolong and tried to visit him," he said.

Thailand-based dissident Liu Xuehong said the Chinese agents are busy eroding any support for refugees, either among each other or from supporters in Thailand.

"Their aim is to obstruct us, and to stop us from speaking out," Liu said. "Even the U.N. High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) is concerned about our safety."

Two handed back

Last November, Chinese asylum seekers Jiang Yefei and Dong Guangping, who had fled persecution in their home country, were handed back to Chinese authorities in a move that drew strong criticism from the U.N. at the time.

They are now in pretrial detention in the southwestern city of Chongqing.

"We call on the U.N. to speed up our applications for resettlement as refugees so that we can live life like normal human beings," Liu said.

The fear of meeting a similar fate has left many Chinese asylum-seekers in serious financial difficulties, he said.

"Some people are reduced to eating waste or leftover food, or rely on friends to live," Liu said. "There isn't much support in place, and the UNHCR is overwhelmed by too many international refugees."

Earlier this month, Zhao Changfu, a prominent rights activist from the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu, skipped bail for subversion and fled through mountains and jungle, using Google Maps as a guide.

Liu said that he and Zhao were followed by an unidentified person when they went to the UNHCR to process Zhao's asylum application.

"It was just one person, following us. ... The security situation hasn't been quite right since Zhao Changfu arrived," he said.

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BENARNEWS- Thai authorities have arrested and deported up to 10,000 Myanmar nationals working in the country as part of a crackdown on illegal immigrants during the last 10 days, an official from a Myanmar nongovernmental organization that helps migrant workers said Monday.
"Over the last 10 days, there have been more arrests of Burmese workers in Thailand," said Kyaw Thaung, director of the Myanmar Association in Thailand. "According to [our] list, the number of Myanmar nationals arrested around the country in the past 10 days could reach 10,000 – an average of about 1,000 each day."
Those arrested in the operation led by the Thai army work in markets, shopping malls, and hotels, he said. Some were sent to Thailand by employment agencies.
"Most of the workers have work and residency permits, but they are being arrested because the names of their work places and those of their bosses are different from the ones that the authorities have," Kyaw Thaung said.
Under Thai law, employers and workers can be arrested if the names of workplaces and business owners are different from those that appear on an official list, he said.
So far, only Myanmar employees have been arrested in the operation, he added.
When Thai authorities arrest Myanmar nationals, they confiscate their Thai work permits and residency documents and transport them to towns such as Myawaddy township in southeastern Myanmar's Kayin state and Tachileik township in eastern Myanmar's Shan state for deportation.
When Myanmar workers are sent to the border at Myawaddy, they must pay Thai officials 1,000 baht (U.S. $29) to leave Thailand, Kyaw Thaung said.
Some migrants, including those detained in the Thai capital Bangkok, must pay 1,700 baht (U.S. $49) to brokers at a border checkpoint in Myawaddy, Eleven Myanmar media group reported. The brokers in turn pay 500 baht (U.S. $14) of the fee to Thai immigration authorities.
Myanmar migrants who were detained at a work site in Mae Sot, a trade hub near the Thai-Myanmar border did not have to pay the fee, the report said.
If the workers cannot pay the fee, they have to work on the border guards' farmlands, Kyaw Thaung said.
Myanmar-Thailand MOU
During an official three-day visit in June, Myanmar State Counselor and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi signed an agreement with Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha to make it easier for Myanmar migrants to work legally in Thailand.
The memorandum of understanding that they signed includes provisions to provide proper identity documents for migrant workers and assurances they will be protected from labor abuses.
Many migrant workers in Thailand – especially those in the country illegally – are at risk of being trafficked as sex workers or for slave-like labor on fishing boats.
Granting the largely undocumented Myanmar workforce in Thailand permanent status has been the subject of negotiations between the two countries.
Myanmar puts the number of migrant workers living in Thailand at 4 million, with only half legally registered to work there, while Thailand's Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare puts the number at more than 1.4 million.
Also during her visit, Aung San Suu Kyi said Myanmar would welcome back refugees who wish to return voluntarily to the country.
In late June, the Myanmar government said it would begin repatriating nearly 200 of the roughly 120,000 Myanmar refugees displaced by conflict who live in nine border camps.
Voluntary repatriation centers will be set up at the refugee camps this month to assist those who want to return home and to be formally processed according to Thai regulations, the online journal The Irrawaddy reported.
The centers are a part of efforts by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and International Organization for Migration to help the refugees repatriate, the report said.


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BENARNEWS- Thailand's Election Commission (EC) expects a high turnout for Sunday's constitutional referendum, yet voters appear to be deeply divided over it, fresh polls show.
And although the commission has allowed limited debates on the issue to take place through Wednesday, the military-controlled government banned public discussion or criticism of the draft charter and has arrested or detained scores of activists during weeks leading up to the vote.
According to officials at the EC, as many as 40.4 million voters – or 80 percent of Thailand's electorate – are expected to vote on the proposed charter, which would usher in general elections for mid-2017, if passed.
Should the referendum succeed it would clear the way for Thailand's 20th constitution since the country became a constitutional monarchy in 1932. The upcoming vote also marks only the second constitutional referendum in those 84 years.
The turnout for the last referendum, which took place in 2007 – a year after a military coup had toppled another civilian-led government – was only 57 percent, according to reports.
When Thais step into the voting booth on Sunday, the ballot in front of them will ask them two questions: to vote "yes" or "no" on the draft charter as well a clause in it that would allow 250 appointed senators to join 500 elected MPs in picking a new prime minister during a five-year period after the formation of a new parliament.
The 279-section draft charter is particularly controversial because it leaves open the possibility of a non-elected person becoming prime minister, its critics say.
They also argue that the charter would entrench the military's power by allowing the junta to hand-pick all 250 senators and guaranteeing that six of those seats are held by the chiefs of the armed forces and police.
According to retired Lt. Gen.Nathadej Meksawat, an observer of Thai politics, the clause is making elected officials and other politicians nervous.
"What is getting in the way of politicians are NCPO-appointed senators who will counter-balance an elected government," Nathadej told BenarNews, referring to the junta by its formal name – the National Council for Peace and Order. The junta overthrew the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra in a coup two years ago.
However, the Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC), whose members were appointed by the junta and which unveiled the draft charter four months ago, has argued that it would help restore stability in politically fraught Thailand by preventing corruption and other abuses of power by politicians.
"Asked why we, the drafting commission, had a provisional clause to allow appointed senators, the answers are the NCPO feels [that] its past efforts to bring back peace are not quite done yet. A pledge to reform politics was not fulfilled yet," CDC Chairman Meechai Richupan told reporters when the commission released the draft charter in late March.
'The politicians don't like it'
Somchai San-in, a Bangkok-based businessman, said he planned to vote in favor of the charter because, as he put it, politicians have ruined the country through self-interest and the articles of the new constitution would act as a check-and-balance against corrupt leaders.
"I support the charter because the politicians don't like it. That is because they cannot be corrupt and use that corrupt money to play money politics," Somchai told BenarNews.
With less than six days till Thais go to the polls, voters seem to be split over how to vote.
According to a poll published by Bangkok University over the weekend, 48.4 percent of 2,810 respondents said they would vote for the charter, while 35.4 percent were undecided, and the rest said they would abstain or vote against it.
The Prachamati poll, a separate survey that came out Saturday, showed that 85 percent of 1,813 respondents said they would reject the charter, while six percent responded that they were undecided and the remainder said they would vote for it.
Free debate?
Fears and tensions around the issue have also grown as the junta has clamped down on dissent over the referendum by banning public criticism of it and arresting at least 122 dissidents on charges of sedition or violating a new referendum law.
Thai officials have sent out conflicting signals about allowing limited debates over the issue this week.
After the EC announced last week that it would allocate funds for debates of no more than three hours in each of Thailand's 77 provinces, a forum to discuss the draft constitution was thwarted in the northeastern province of Khon Khaen province on Saturday, according to local reports.
Two pro-democracy groups, New Citizens and New Democracy-Isaan, had sought permission to hold a debate on the proposed constitution at Khon Khaen University but a campus official ordered them to cancel the event, citing advice from police, reports said.
Don Pathan in Bangkok contributed to this report.




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Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej is being treated for fever following a possible infection in his blood while Queen Sirikit has a lung infection, according to recent bulletins on the condition of the octogenarian royal couple who have been in ill health in recent years.
Both of them are recovering in a hospital, separate statements by the palace said.
A monthly update on the revered 88-year-old king's health by the palace on Monday said doctors continued to use antibiotics to treat the infection causing a low fever.
"In the month of July 2016 a low fever was present," said the palace statement, according to Reuters news agency. "Blood tests showed a possible infection and physicians therefore had to administer antibiotics."
"After the treatment His Majesty's condition showed some improvement."
In a June statement, the palace said the monarch was treated for "water on the brain," or hydrocephalus, a build-up of the cerebrospinal fluid that surrounds the brain.
"The medical team has continuously monitored the condition of the cerebrospinal fluid and found drainage of cerebrospinal fluid throughout the month of July to be satisfactory," Reuters quoted the latest statement as saying.
Meanwhile, Sirikit, 83, suffered a lung infection, but her condition has improved, the Associated Press reported on Saturday.
Sirikit was moved on July 24 from Bangkok's Siriraj Hospital, where Bhumibol has been living for most of the past few years, to Chulalongkorn Hospital for treatment of minor lung inflammation and blood infection, AP quoted a palace statement as saying.
It said that after treatment, symptoms of fever and cough had subsided.
The Siriraj Hospital has served as the de facto royal residence as Bhumibol and Sirikit have also suffered strokes, with the queen's apparently being the more severe case, according to AP.
Bhumibol, the world's longest serving monarch, since 1946, was last seen in public on Jan. 11, when he spent several hours visiting his palace in the Thai capital.
Tightly controlled
Anxiety over the king's health and an eventual succession has formed the backdrop to more than a decade of bitter political divide in Thailand that has included military takeovers and sometimes violent street demonstrations, Reuters said.
News about the royal family is tightly controlled in Thailand, where laws protecting the royals from insult make it a crime to defame, insult or threaten the king, queen, heir to the throne or regent.
On Monday, the mother of a prominent student activist was indicted by a Thai military court on royal defamation charges over a one-word Facebook message.
Patnaree Chankij, 40, was initially arrested in May by Thai police for violating Thailand's severe royal defamation law, which bans disparaging the monarchy with up to 15 years in prison on each count, the Agence France-Presse news agency reported.
Her lawyers say the charge stems from writing "ja" – the Thai equivalent of "yeah" – in response to a private Facebook message from someone that allegedly insulted the royal family.
The case has been seized upon by activists as a terrifying example of how the ruling military junta has broadened its interpretation of the crime to include even vague references to the monarchy, AFP said.
Police eventually dropped the charges after an outcry, but they forwarded the case to prosecutors from the military who have pressed ahead.
"A military court today accepted the case filed by the military prosecutor," lawyer Anon Nampa, told AFP, adding his client was granted bail ahead of an upcoming plea hearing.
Use of Thailand's Lese-Majeste law and military courts has skyrocketed since former army chief turned Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-Cha seized power in May 2014, sparking international condemnation, including from the United Nations.
Record-breaking 25- and 30-year sentences have since been handed down for people over Facebook posts, while a man even found himself arrested for making sarcastic comments about the king's late dog.
Many convictions occur behind closed doors while media must heavily self-censor when reporting cases to avoid falling foul of the law.


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BENARNEWS- With a constitutional referendum in Thailand just days away, the atmosphere inside the conference room at Bangkokthonburi University was charged as a panel of three debated the draft charter.
Some 300 people from all walks of life crowded into the room at the Bangkok campus to listen to a rare public discussion about an issue that could shape the future of their country, which is under military rule.
A man in the audience at Tuesday's event, who identified himself as Uthai, complained about the lack of clarity in questions that would appear on Sunday's ballot.
He also bristled about how Thailand's Election Commission had only published 1 million hard copies of the proposed constitution for an electorate of 50.6 million voters, although the EC had posted the document on its website months ago.
"We haven't seen a single copy of the charter," Uthai told BenarNews, echoing a complaint voiced by other Thais in recent weeks.
Tuesday's event was one of 68 debates about the referendum that were expected to unfold in 74 of Thailand's 77 provinces between July 29 and Aug. 4.
The Election Commission, the body that will oversee Sunday's pivotal vote, had packed in all those debates within the space of a few days, after announcing last week that it was allocating time and money for limited public discussions on the issue.
The move was remarkable because, up until July 29 and since the draft charter was unveiled in late March, Thailand's military-controlled government had virtually banned public discussions or campaigning related to the Aug. 7 referendum. During the past four months, Thai authorities have detained or arrested scores of political activists who have spoken out against the proposed constitution.
When people like Uthai will step into polling stations nationwide on Sunday, the ballot before them will ask voters to answer two questions: to vote "yes" or "no" for the proposed charter; and to indicate whether they agree to a clause in it that would allow a "joint parliamentary assembly" – made up of 250 government-appointed senators and 500 elected MPs – to pick a non-elected prime minister.
Uthai said he was upset because of the vague wording on the ballot that, according to him, does not spell out the implications of the second question.
"And we only know today that the 250 senators will also be entitled to select a prime minister. Why does the question not state it more clearly? We want to know," he said.
'Undemocratic'
Under the normal format of Thailand's parliamentary system, the political party that wins the most seats through popular elections will form a new government, single party or coalition, and then nominate a leader as prime minister.
But the clause in the proposed charter is controversial because it would allow an "outsider" or non-elected parliamentarian to become prime minister, a stipulation that has riled its opponents.
"To allow senators to select a prime minister is undemocratic," Boonyod Suktinthai, a former MP for the opposition Democrat Party, and a panelist at the forum at Bangkokthonburi University, told the audience.
"Therefore, we need to consider the additional question with care. I don't accept the charter," said Boonyod, whose center-right party is Thailand's oldest.
Another panelist, Chavalit Wichayasut, a former parliamentarian from the opposition Pheu Thai party, agreed with Boonyod.
"Section 3 of the charter says the power belongs to the Thai citizens. But I am afraid that it is just big word only, when 250 senators can also select the premier," said Chavalit, whose party leader, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra was toppled in a coup that brought the junta to power in May 2014.
None of the three panelists represented the "yes" camp in the referendum campaign. But Yuthahporn Isarachai, a professor at Sukothai Thammathirat University in Pak Kret, Nonthaburi province, offered a more neutral perspective on the draft charter.
"If both questions pass, the elections will be held in October 2017. If the charter passes but the second question fails, the elections will be in July 2017," Yuthaporn told the forum.
If a majority of voters rejected both questions on the ballot, then elections would take place in December 2017, he explained.
Designed to ensure stability
The junta-appointed Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC), which drew up the charter that will be voted on Sunday, has argued that it will help restore political stability in Thailand by preventing corruption and other abuses of power by politicians.
Lt. Gen. Nanthadej Meksawat, an adviser to former Prime Minister Surayudh Chulanond, who came to power after the 2006 coup that toppled Yingluck's brother, Thaksin, expressed optimism that the coming referendum would succeed.
"There will be a bigger percentage of voters coming to vote than not. And it is likely that the majority of them will accept the charter," Nanthadej told BenarNews in a phone interview.
An earlier version of this story incorrectly named Surayudh Chulanond as the leader of the 2006 coup.


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BENARNEWS- Thai authorities said they plan to charge and deport 62 undocumented migrants from Myanmar, including five Rohingya Muslims, who were arrested after human smugglers left them in a house near Thailand's southern border with Malaysia.
The 62 were waiting to cross into Malaysia illegally but were taken into Thai custody Tuesday after being found at a townhouse in Padang Besar, a sub-district of Songkhla province, officials said.
Padang Besar is the same area where dozens of graves of trafficked Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants were found in the jungle in May 2015. That discovery precipitated a Thai crackdown on human smuggling that contributed to a regional migration crisis. Meanwhile, some 139 graves of other victims of human-smuggling were discovered on the other side of the border in northern Malaysia's Perlis state.
At around that time, thousands of Rohingyas and Bangladeshis came ashore in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia after being abandoned in smugglers' boats adrift in the Andaman Sea and Strait of Malacca.
"The 62 immigrants have been detained and questioned at Padang Besar police station. The police have been interrogating them, and will press charges of illegal entry. They intend to deport them to where they came from," Lt. Col. Prapan Areebambud, deputy chief of the police station in Padang Besar, told Benar News on Thursday.
Police were notified about the group of undocumented foreigners by a woman from Myanmar who was being kept in the same house but managed to sneak out, according to the superintendent of the Thai police anti-human trafficking branch in Songkhla.
"We interrogated a Myanmar woman who escaped from the house to seek help from authorities. She said Thai and Malaysian brokers brought them from border checkpoints in Mae Sod district, in Tak province, and the border in Ranong province, and they each paid them 200,000 kyats (U.S. $168.50)," said the superintendent, Police Col. Narong Tedwiboon, referring to Thai provinces along the border with Myanmar.
"They were kept there for five days, waiting for the next brokers to take them into Malaysia, but no one came. They were afraid that they were cheated, so she sneaked out to seek help from authorities," Narong told BenarNews.
'Way too small'
Malaysia, a predominantly Muslim and relatively prosperous country, has been a prime destination in Southeast Asia for Rohingyas, with southern Thailand serving as an overland transit route for many.
Rohingyas belong to a stateless minority in Buddhist-dominated Myanmar whose members have been fleeing ethnic and religious persecution in Rakhine state, in search of better employment and educational prospects abroad.
Last year's crackdown on human-smuggling in Thailand resulted in arrests warrants being issued for 153 suspected members of a transnational ring linked to the jungle graves in Padang Besar. Ninety-two of the suspects, including an army general, police officers and some local officials, are standing trial in Bangkok on human-trafficking charges.
Nu Muhammad, a Rohingya expat who has lived in Thailand for more than 10 years, said human smuggling into the country from Myanmar will go on on because operators at the ground level have not been caught, he said.
"The traffickers are using land routes because they can no longer go by sea," he told BenarNews.
A trafficker in Padang Besar, who declined to reveal her real name, indicated that many more people were being trafficked through the area on their way to Malaysia.
"The arrest of 62 is way too small. To traffic [such] a small number is not worth the economy of scale," she said, adding that human trafficking in the area was bouncing back after a lull that followed last year's crackdown.


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BENARNEWS- Thai people go to the polls Sunday to vote on a draft constitution that would cement military control over Thailand's political institutions and usher in general elections sometime next year, if passed.
As many as 40.4 million voters – 80 percent of the electorate – are expected to vote on the proposed charter and on a clause it contains that would allow 250 appointed senators and 500 elected MPs to pick a new prime minister, according to Thailand's Election Commission.
Polls are open across Thailand from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., with initial results announced that evening and official results three days later, officials said.
The military government has worked hard to promote the charter by various means, including intimidating critical voices and quietly lobbying community leaders at the village level.
Civil servants, military cadets and others have been sent out on foot and even on elephants as part of a door-to-door nationwide campaign to encourage people to go to the polls.
Observers say a yes vote is key to the legitimacy of the Thai junta that came to power in a May 2014 coup promising to end a decade-long political crisis and restore democracy.
There is no clear official position as to what the government would do if the referendum does not pass, yet the outcome of Sunday's vote is hard to predict.
"ecause the junta has made it so hard to express dissent in Thailand, it has also created a situation in which voting no on the charter could be, for many Thais, the only way they have to show displeasure at the coup government," Joshua Kurlantzick of the Council on Foreign Relations, a U.S. think tank, wrote earlier this week.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha told reporters this week that he would not step down should the referendum fail to pass. He insisted that his administration was committed to a general election that he said can only come about with a new constitution in place.
'Return to normalcy'
If passed, the charter would increase the size of Thailand's Senate by 100 members and allow the junta to hand-pick all 250 of its members. Six of those seats would be reserved for chiefs of the armed forces.
The constitution also opens the possibility of a non-elected person becoming prime minister, its critics say.
Authorities have been promoting a yes vote with the concept of "return to normalcy," while in 2007– the last time Thais voted in a constitutional referendum – the slogan was "vote yes and amend later."
The current draft charter makes future amendment extremely difficult, according to Supalak Ganjanakhundee, a senior editor at The Nation newspaper in Bangkok.
Besides obtaining a simple majority in the 500-seat Parliament, an amendment must have support from at least 20 percent of opposition parliamentarians and one-third of the 250 seats in the military-appointed Senate, he said.
Leaders of two leading political parties, the Pheu Thai Party and the Democrats, voiced objection to the draft constitution in recent days as the government relaxed its grip of freedom of expression and allowed town hall discussions on the draft charter across the country.
But there were still limits to what could be said. At least one forum in Ubon Ratchathanee province was called off when it was discovered that the organizer had invited an outspoken Pheu Thai Party politician, Chaturon Chaisaeng, as one of the panelists.
View from the south
In Thailand's southernmost provinces, where ongoing insurgency violence has claimed 7,000 lives since January 2004, military officers urged community leaders to mobilize villagers to vote "yes" on Sunday.
While the military did not go as far as suggesting that a "yes" vote would restore peace to this historically contested region, they argued that the draft constitution would bring an end to the decade-old political crisis at the national level
Many experts agree that political stability at the national level would help make the atmosphere more conducive for peace talks in the far South.
A clause of the draft charter singling out Theravada as the branch of Buddhism to be "promoted and supported" by the state has drawn notice in this Muslim-majority region, according to Ismail Haji Wancik, a communications officer at the Patani Institute, a local civil society organization.
That clause could set an unwanted precedent if other religions start to demand that their particular sect be mentioned in the Constitution, Ismail said, voicing concern.
This point has provided ammunition for pro-Thaksin Shinawatra politicians in the South in their campaign for a "no" vote, he said. Thaksin was ousted in 2006 and his sister, Yingluck, in 2014, by military coups.
Amorn Wanichwiwatana, a spokesman for the Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC), told reporters on July 29 that Muslim politicians had been "distorting the draft constitution" in their attempt to persuade Muslim voters to reject it. He insisted that the draft charter was designed to protect Buddhism and other religions in the country.
Behind closed doors, Bangkok-based diplomats have expressed doubt that the charter would bring about political stability because the drafting process lacked inclusiveness.
But despite the repressive atmosphere in the lead up to the vote, balloting itself is likely to be fair, according to Kurlantzick, the Council on Foreign Relations scholar.
"Though there may be some fraud, the actual voting will likely be relatively free and fair; there is little evidence to suggest that the coup government plans to blatantly rig the polls," he wrote.


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BENARNEWS- A 61 percent majority among 27 million Thais who turned out at nationwide polls on Sunday voted for a draft constitution that promises elections next year but allows the military-backed government to influence the process, unofficial results showed.

Among the 55 percent of Thailand's 50.6 million-strong electorate who voted in Sunday's national referendum, 15. 5 million voted 'yes' for adopting the draft charter, versus 9.7 million - or 38.6 percent - who voted  'no,' according to a nearly complete unofficial tally of ballots by Thailand's Election Commission (EC).

A majority of voters also opted in favor of a controversial clause in the draft charter that would allow 250 junta-appointed senators to join 500 elected MPs in picking a new prime minister for a five-year period, according to the EC's unofficial count of 94 percent of all votes. 

Fifty-eight percent voted "yes" on the clause but nearly 42 percent rejected it. Critics of the charter have pointed to this clause as potentially giving the junta a measure of control over parliament and watering down the power of elected lawmakers.

Sunday's vote nonetheless marked the first time in more than two years that Thais went to the polls since the military seized power amid political turmoil, with observers touting the referendum as the first major measure of the junta's popularity. 

The absence at the polls of an overwhelming nationwide majority backing the charter suggests that "Thailand is still deeply a divided country along political lines," Chanintira Na Thalang, an assistant professor in political science at Thammasart University in Bangkok, told BenarNews.

Violence mars southern polls

In the northern provinces that are a stronghold for the opposition Pheu Thai Party – whose government fell in the May 2014 coup – a majority voted for the new constitution.

But other parts of the country rejected it. In the run-up to the vote, leaders of two of Thailand's major parties, including Pheu Thai, had voiced their objections to the draft charter, saying it was not democratic enough.

In the northeast, slightly more than 50 percent of voters turned it down. In Thailand's predominantly Muslim and insurgency-stricken Deep South, a large percentage of voters cast ballots against the charter.

In the Deep South provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat, majorities ranging between 59 percent and 66 percent voted down the charter, respectively, with "yes" votes capturing only between 34 and 40 percent of ballots, according to the EC's latest figures. 

The commission will announced the referendum's official results on Wednesday, unless the EC receives any formal complaints about Sunday's vote.

At least a half-million voters turned out at polls across the Deep South alone, even though a series of bombings by suspected separatist insurgent targeted telephone poles in Narathiwat on Saturday night, causing power outages, police said.

Early Sunday morning, before polls opened at 8 a.m., a motorcycle-bomb attack targeted a polling site in the province but no one was hurt, according to police.

But after polls closed, a civilian volunteer was killed in a roadside bomb attack on Sunday evening that targeted a truck carrying boxes of cast ballots in Sai Buri, a district of Pattani, police said.

Divided electorate

The polls were open for eight hours as millions of Thais lined up to cast their ballots at voting sites in Thailand's 77 provinces.

Among those who voted in northeastern Khon Kaen province – some 450 km (280 miles) from Bangkok – was Adisak Raksaphol, an employee with a local private company.

"I rejected this draft. I don't have to read the entire charter to know that the entire Senate chamber will not be democratically elected," Adisak told BenarNews.

Proponents of the new charter said a "yes" vote would help bring about stability and end a decade of turmoil in Thai politics.

"I accepted it because it is a way of bringing the country back to the path of normalcy. I don't want to see any more battles because we are all Thais here. The country has suffered too much already," Shane Nanthawin, a voter who works as a freelance photographer in Bangkok, told BenarNews. 

During the months leading up to the referendum, the junta had banned public campaigning over the draft charter, which was unveiled in March by a military-appointed Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC). 

On Sunday, more than 200,000 police were deployed to polling stations to maintain order. 

Apart from reports of violence in the Deep South, the day passed by relatively calmly elsewhere in the county, except for one incident on the outskirts of Bangkok. 

At a polling station, a university student ripped up a ballot in front of journalists and yelled out "Long live democracy!" 

Police officers who were standing nearby quickly moved in to haul off the young man.

He wore a black T-shirt with the words "No Coup" emblazoned on it in large letters.

Nontarat Phaicharoen in Khon Kaen province, Rapee Mama in Narathiwat province, Nasueroh in Pattani province and Pimuk Rakkanam in Bangkok contributed to this report.

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BENARNEWS- The Thai junta vowed Monday to hold elections as early as September 2017 after the people voted convincingly in favor of a military-written constitution in the first public opinion test for the generals who seized power two years ago.
Following the weekend referendum backing the charter, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam confirmed a timeline for the 2017 elections devised by Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha, who led a coup in May 2014 toppling a democratically elected government.
"The government will act as quickly as we can (to organize a poll) as the prime minister does not want to prolong his time in power," Wissanu was quoted Monday by Agence France-Presse Monday.
Chatchai Na Chiang Mai, spokesman for the Constitution Drafting Committee, was more specific.
"We think there will be an election at the earliest in September or October 2017, and a new government by December 2017," he told Reuters.
A desire to see greater political stability drove the yes vote, analysts told the news agency, obviously referring to the more than a decade of political turmoil as well as two military takeovers and several rounds of often deadly street protests that had dampened economic growth and investment flows.
The Thai stock market touched a fresh 16-month high on Monday in an indication that the referendum result has been welcomed by Thai investors.
Ahead of the poll, the generals had banned political rallies and open forums about the charter. Those who criticized the draft could have faced charges punishable by 10 years in jail.
But Prayuth's office said in a statement late Sunday that the referendum "was conducted with a high degree of transparency and openness on part of the government."
The Election Commission said in unofficial results released after the vote that 61.4 percent of the country backed the charter while 38.6 percent were against it. Turnout was about 55 percent, below than the 80 percent targeted by the commission.
Thailand's major political parties had refused to back the draft constitution prior to the vote, saying it would curtail democracy.
The draft constitution seeks an appointed Senate with seats reserved for military commanders, limits on parliamentary authority, enhanced powers for non-elected state agencies and a provision for a non-elected prime minister.
Former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, whose government was swept out of power by the coup, said the referendum result was a backward step for the country.
"I accept the decision of the people," she said in a social media post. She said she was not surprised at the result because of the ban on debate over the document.
"I am saddened by the fact that our country is going backward to an undemocratic constitution," she said.
A 2006 coup had toppled Yingluck's billionaire elder brother Thaksin Shinawatra, who has lived abroad since 2008 but still wields considerable influence in Thai politics.
The United States and the European Union expressed concern over the ban on debate over the draft charter.
Washington remains "concerned that the drafting process for the constitution was not inclusive, that open debate was not permitted in the run up to its adoption," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau. "We urge Thai authorities to proceed with next steps to return Thailand to elected civilian-led government as soon as possible.
"We strongly urge the government to lift restrictions on civil liberties, including freedom of expression, the right to peaceful assembly," she said.
Separately, the European Union said the referendum was marred by "serious limitations to fundamental freedoms, including restrictions on debate and campaigning."
It called on the junta to lift restrictions "to allow for an open, inclusive and accountable political process."


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BENARNEWS- All eyes are on the prospect of Thailand holding elections late next year now that the Election Commission (EC) has certified results of a referendum that backed a controversial constitution proposed by the Thai junta.
After the EC confirmed Wednesday that 61 percent had voted over the weekend in favor of Thailand's 20th constitution in 84 years, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha announced on national television that the new charter would be adopted within three months, clearing the way for possible elections in 2017.
"Please, everyone, keep a positive atmosphere and prepare for the elections to come tentatively next year," Prayuth, an army general who led a coup that toppled a civilian-led government in May 2014, told the nation.
A day earlier, Meechai Ritchuphand, the chairman of the junta-appointed Constitution Drafting Committee, said he expected elections to take place in late 2017 at the earliest.
But before Thailand can adopt a new charter, the CDC needs to incorporate a clause that would allow 250 senators appointed by the junta to join 500 elected MPs in picking a non-elected person as prime minister following the next elections, he said.
The clause has been widely criticized as changing electoral rules in a way that would water down the power of elected officials and allow the military to influence the electoral process.
"After all the process is done, the new charter will be sent to the prime minister who will seek royal endorsement. And when all steps are done, elections may be held in October or November [2017]," Meechai said.
Fifty-nine percent percent of eligible voters turned out for Sunday's polls, EC Chairman Somchai Srisuthiyakorn said Wednesday.
On the second question, voters were asked whether they agreed with the controversial clause to allow the junta to appoint 250 members – 58 percent voted for it, compared with nearly 42 percent who opposed it, according to the EC's final results.
Hollow democracy?
In the months leading up to Sunday's vote, the junta had banned public criticism of the draft charter or negative campaigning against it.
Rungwrawee Chalermsripinyorat, an independent political analyst based in Thailand's Deep South, said the referendum was not a genuine democratic exercise because of how tightly it was controlled, and that the new charter would not restore full democracy to Thailand.
"Some of the yes camp wanted to see elections and the return to 'normalcy,' but at the price of the advance of democracy," she told BenarNews.
"The approval of the referendum will result in increased roles for military and autocrats, who are not elected, in the political arena – especially when it comes to picking premier," she added.
Thailand's major political parties had refused to support the draft charter.
Jatuporn Prompan, chairman of the grassroots movement United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) – which aligned with the opposition Pheu Thai party – posted a message on Facebook this week, in which he called on politicians to boycott a non-elected person being selected as prime minister under the future format.
"[An] outsider must not set foot in Government House," he said.
Prof. Sombat Thamrongthanyawong, a former member of the National Reform Council, told BenarNews that the contentious clause in the draft charter would lead the country down the road to "crisis," although supporters of the constitution have argued that it would bring about stability and order after a decade of turmoil in Thai politics.
"The outsider premier will [lead] a minority government and this will lead to crisis. A minority government lacks stability. How can it pass budgets, how can it pass laws?" Sombat told BenarNews in a telephone interview.
US reactions
The outcome of the referendum and the way that the run-up to it was controlled has drawn scrutiny from abroad, including from one of Thai's main allies, the United States.
On Monday, the U.S. State Department voiced concern that "the drafting process for the constitution was not inclusive, that open debate was not permitted in the run-up to its adoption."
"Once the results are final ... we urge Thai authorities to proceed with next steps to return Thailand to elected, civilian-led government as soon as possible," State Department spokesman Elizabeth Trudeau told a press briefing in Washington.
"As part of the process to return Thailand to democracy, we strongly urge the government to lift restrictions on civil liberties, including freedom of expression, the right to peaceful assembly, so the Thai people can engage in an open, unimpeded dialogue about the country's political future," she added.
On Wednesday, U.S.-based Human Rights Watch criticized the referendum process and the implications of the draft charter's passage at the polls.
"The Thai junta's campaign of repression against opponents of the proposed constitution ensured that the referendum wouldn't be fair," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. "Instead of the long-promised return to democratic civilian rule, the new constitution facilitates unaccountable military power and a deepening dictatorship."
"The new constitution will entrench the abusive and unaccountable military rule that Thailand has endured since the May 2014 coup," he added. "The UN and Thailand's friends need to step up their calls for an end to human rights abuses and for genuine democratic reforms."


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BENARNEWS- Two bombs exploded late Thursday in Thailand's seaside resort town of Hua Hin, killing a Thai woman and injuring some 19 other people including foreign tourists, media reports said.
The first explosion shortly after 10 p.m. badly injured a food-cart operator in front of a bar, a local police official told The Bangkok Post. The vendor later died of her injuries, Sutthichai Srisopacharoenrat said.
Many more people were injured in the second blast, which took place 20 minutes later and 50 meters away, after a crowd had gathered.
"Of the 19 (wounded), three are in serious condition and seven of the injured are foreigners – four women and three men," Sutthichai was quoted as saying.
The blasts took place in a nightlife district of the seaside town, a popular weekend getaway about 193 km (120 miles) south of Bangkok.
Local police said the explosive devices were hidden in plant pots and detonated by mobile phone, Thai PBS reported.
Market Explosion Kills One
Earlier Thursday, an explosion at a market in the southern province of Trang killed one man and injured at least 6 other people, police there said.
Trang is about 900 km (560 miles) south of Bangkok and 250 km (155 miles) northwest of the three provinces that comprise Thailand's violence-wracked Deep South.
CCTV cameras captured images of two suspects in the bombing, which occurred in a market near Trang City Hall at 3 p.m., The Nation reported.
Attackers left a bag containing a bomb in the market and it detonated at a pavilion where seven to eight people were sitting, police and witnesses said.
A 50-year-old vendor was killed and his wife was among the injured, the report said.
Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Kongcheep Tantrawanit said the Trang bombing had no connection to the insurgency in Thailand's Deep South region but was likely linked to a conflict among local residents, The Nation reported.
Trang Gov. Dejrath Simsiri urged the public to wait for the outcome of an investigation.
"We cannot identify the culprits behind this bombing yet, and we have to wait for officers to look at all the evidence and conclude the investigation. There are many witnesses," The Nation quoted him as saying.


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BENARNEWS- An onslaught of bombings that killed four and injured dozens in Thailand likely was politically motivated, Thai officials said Friday.
Ten foreigners were among at least 34 injured in 11 bomb blasts in multiple locations across southern Thailand that began Thursday and spilled into Friday, a national holiday known as "Mother's Day" which celebrates the queen's birthday, the Health Ministry said.
Most of the attacks targeted southern tourist hotspots, including Phuket and Hua Hin, which houses Klai Kangwon, the summer palace of King Bhumibol Adulyadej and Queen Sirikit, who turned 84 on Friday.
Eight of the attacks took place within a three-hour span on Friday, indicating that they were coordinated, according to officials, who ruled out terrorism.
"The assailants must be in the same syndicate because this series of attacks needs several men to carry out making the bombs, delivering the bombs, planting the bombs and escaping," Col. Piyapong Klinpan, the spokesman for the National Council for Peace and Order – the formal name for the Thai junta – told BenarNews.
"There must be a kingpin to plan it out and execute it. Who he is, we will find out," he added.
Politically motivated?
From the prime minister on down, Thai officials said they suspected that nearly all the attacks were politically driven and tied to this week's constitutional referendum, in which a majority of voters approved a draft charter that critics see as entrenching military rule.
"You figure it out ... why they happened when the country is starting to get better, its foundation starts to get firm," Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha told reporters in Bangkok, alluding the referendum.
At a news conference in the Thai capital, the nation's police chief said suspicion fell on political forces opposed to the adoption of the draft charter, which is expected within the next few months.
"All [the attacks] took place in seven provinces where voters accepted the draft charter. There might be some opponents who carried out [the attacks] to discredit [the government] or damage tourism," Police Gen. Chakthip Chaichinda told reporters.
Police said they were ruling out a connection to international terrorism. Officials said they had also not found evidence tying the bombings to insurgents in Thailand's predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking Deep South, although the devices "were similar to those used by separatist groups in southern Thailand," the Associated Press quoted Chaktip as saying on Friday.
Some 60 percent of voters in the southern border region, which has seen more than 6,500 people die since 2004 in violence related to an insurgency, voted against the draft charter in Sunday's referendum.
"The incident is not linked to terrorism but is an act of stirring up public disturbance," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
"Security officials are expediting the interrogation process to bring the culprits to justice. Please rest assured that the government and security agencies are working together to resolve the situation and bring about peace at the soonest," it added.
Potato chip bags
The first bombing took place Thursday afternoon at a market in Trang province, about 900 km (560 miles) south of Bangkok, killing a soldier and injuring six others. The attack likely stemmed from a gangland dispute, officials said.
Two more bombs exploded in the evening in the resort town of Hua Hin, about 193 km (120 miles) south of Bangkok, killing one and injuring 21.
On Friday, twin bombs went off near a clock tower in Hua Hin, killing one and injuring three, officials said.
In Phuket, two small bombs exploded, injuring one.
In Phang Nga province next to Phuket, two bombs exploded but no-one was injured. In Surat Thani province, meanwhile, two bomb blasts killed one and injured three, officials said.
"All bombs were contained in potato chip containers or bags with improvised black powder. For last night's bombs, they were detonated by cell phones," an EOD official who inspected the bomb scenes near Hua Hin's clock tower on Friday told BenarNews on condition of anonymity.
Attacks on tourist sites in Thailand are rare, and tourism is a major driver of the Thai economy. The attacks on Thursday and Friday came nearly a year after a bombing at a Hindu shrine in Bangkok that is popular with tourists killed 20 people and injured over 100. Two ethnic Uyghurs have been arrested and charged in connection with that attack.
Police also revealed Friday that two other bombs were found in different markets in Phuket – a world-famous destination among tourists – on Wednesday, the day that the referendum results were officially certified, but the explosive devices were disarmed by a bomb squad.
Travel warning
The string of attacks caused the Australian government to issue a travel alert warning its citizens that "further explosions in any part of Thailand are possible."
Condemnation of the attacks also poured in from abroad.
"We condemn these deplorable acts of violence.  Our thoughts are with the victims, their families and loved ones, and the Thai emergency personnel responding to these incidents," said the U.S. State Department, which earlier in the week had voiced its concern about the referendum's passage.
Rights watchdog Amnesty International, which has slammed the two-year-old junta's record on human rights, also deplored the attacks.
"Nothing can justify intentionally carrying out indiscriminate attacks, which disregard the basic right to life. These acts of violence show utter contempt for human rights," Champa Patel, senior research Advisor for Amnesty International's Southeast Asia and Pacific Regional Office, said in a statement.
"Those behind the attacks must be brought to justice through fair trials. Amnesty International calls on Thai authorities to ensure their response is in accordance with their obligations under international human rights law," Champa added.
Nontarat Phaicharoen in Bangkok contributed to this report.
An earlier version incorrectly reported that Thai police had ruled out a connection in the bombings to southern Thai insurgents.


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BENARNEWS- Malaysian authorities are looking into a request from neighboring Thailand to track down the owner of a Malaysia-registered mobile phone allegedly used to detonate one of 11 bombs that killed four and injured dozens at tourist sites across southern Thailand last week, an official told BenarNews.
The anonymous official at Government House in Bangkok said the bombings that hit at least seven provinces – and which Thai authorities have described as coordinated – would be on the agenda of discussions between Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha and his Malaysian counterpart, Najib Razak, during their meeting in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.
Prayuth is scheduled to attend a three-day International Conference on Blue Ocean Strategy, at Malaysia's administrative capital Putrajaya that will focus on how nations can innovate to spur economic growth.
"Our side is asking the Malaysians to track down a mobile phone number that our people believe was used to detonate one of the bombs during the attacks last week," the Thai official told BenarNews.
The phone was recovered from the site of a bombing in Phuket and Malaysian police have already received the device, according to reports in the Malaysian media.
"The blast did not destroy part of the handphone and the serial number of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) on the phone was still visible," the state-run Malaysian news agency Bernama reported.
Malaysian police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said Kuala Lumpur was willing to provide full cooperation to Thailand to facilitate investigations into the blasts.
Deep South connection?
On Friday, Thai officials said the attacks appeared to be politically driven and connected to the results of an Aug. 7 constitutional referendum. A majority backed a controversial draft charter that would allow the military-controlled government to influence the outcome of future elections.
On Monday, however, officials said it was too soon to rule out the possibility that the attacks were connected to a separatist insurgency in Thailand's far southern region, which is known as the Deep South.
"I've always said since the beginning and I've never said anything else, there are similarities between the tourist spot bombings and those carried out by the separatists," the Associated Press quoted national police chief Chakthip Chaichinda as saying on Monday.
He was referring to bomb attacks that are frequent in the Deep South, a predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking border region where more than 6,500 have died since 2004 in violence associated with the insurgency.
Chakthip's comments conflicted with those made a day earlier by one of his deputies, Police Gen. Pongsapat Pongcharoen. He told reporters in Bangkok that the attacks in the upper south were not linked to the rebellion in the Deep South.
A network of 10 to 20 people was behind the attacks in the seven provinces last week, which were coordinated by one mastermind, he said.
Chakthip's words about a possible Deep South connection were echoed by at least one Thai security official who is familiar with the region.
"There are just too many similarities between the attacks in the upper south and the ongoing insurgency in the far south," the senior military officer with access to initial reports of last week's bombings and arson attacks told BenarNews.
The source cited the example of a previous bombing in southern Thailand but well north of the confines of the Deep South: a car-bombing at a shopping mall on the resort island of Koh Samui in April 2015, after which authorities traced the vehicle back to the Deep South.
11 bombings, five arson attacks
So far, at least one person has been arrested in connection with last week's attacks and several members of the anti-junta Red Shirt movement have been taken in for questioning as well, officials said. But it remained unclear on Monday whether police were holding these people for questioning.
A resident of Chiang Mai, Sakharin Karuehas, was arrested Friday night in connection with an arson attack at a Tesco Lotus supermarket in Nakhon Si Thammarat province that afternoon, authorities said. The market was one of five shops and shopping areas targeted in arson attacks in five southern provinces on Friday.
The first bomb went off Thursday afternoon at a market in Trang province, about 900 km (560 miles) south of Bangkok, killing a soldier and injuring six others. Officials initially blamed that attack on a likely gangland dispute.
On Thursday night, two bombs exploded in the resort town of Hua Hin, about 193 km (120 miles) south of Bangkok, killing one and injuring 21.
On Friday, twin bombs went off near a clock tower in Hua Hin, killing one and injuring three, officials said.
In Phuket, two small bombs exploded, injuring one. And in neighboring Phang Nga province, two bombs exploded but no one was injured.
Elsewhere, in Surat Thani province, two bomb blasts killed one and injured three, officials said.


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BENARNEWS- Thai authorities are looking for a man from the insurgency-hit Deep South who may be connected to last week's bombings of southern tourist hotspots, Thailand's deputy police chief said Tuesday, although he did not link the suspect outright to regional rebel groups.
Authorities in Nakhon Sri Thammarat province on Tuesday put out a warrant for the arrest of a suspect identified as Ahama Lengha, a native of Narathiwat – one of the provinces in the Deep South. He is wanted for an attempted bombing at a beach in Phuket on Aug. 10, and for his alleged role in bomb and arson attacks.
The bomb at Patong Beach did not go off but police believe that Ahama played a role in a wider conspiracy that resulted in the deaths of four people in 11 bomb attacks and five arson attacks across upper southern Thailand on Aug. 11 and 12.
It was one of two bombs planted in the Phuket area on Wednesday but that were destroyed by bomb disposal squads, according to the Bangkok Post. The next day and on Friday, 11 bombs exploded in Nakhon Sri Thammarat and six other provinces in Thailand's upper south.
"The evidence from the crime scene showed DNA matching with the suspect who maneuvered in Tak Bai, Narathiwat [province] since 2004," Deputy National Police Chief Gen. Srivara Ransibrahmanakul told a press conference in Nakhon Sri Thammarat on Tuesday.
"According to our investigation, he is believed to be the key to other culprits in these cases," Srivara said.
Ahama "planted a bomb at Patong Beach in Phuket on Aug. 10. We have concrete evidence," the deputy police chief added during the news conference at the headquarters of the 8th regional police command.
He said Ahama had a long criminal record dating to 2004, the year when the long-running separatist insurgency in the predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking Deep South re-ignited.
Two others wanted in arson case
A court in Nakhon Sri Thammarat Court on Tuesday also issued arrest warrants for two other men suspected of being linked to a related arson attack at a Tesco Lotus supermarket in Phuket on Friday, Srivara said without disclosing their identities.
A third man, identified as Chiang Mai resident Sakharin Karuehas, was arrested earlier on suspicion of taking part in setting the market on fire. On Tuesday, Sakharin was transferred from military to police custody, Srivara said.
A police source at the 8th regional command, which covers many of the southern provinces that were attacked, told Thai Rath newspaper that footage from the a security camera showed the two other suspects boarding a bus to Had Yai, a town that serves as a gateway to the Deep South, after the supermarket was set on fire.
Police have not ruled out a possible connection between the bombings and insurgent groups based in Thailand's restive southern border region, although authorities in the past few days have given conflicting information about this possibility.
On Monday, the national police chief was quoted as saying that there were similarities "between the tourist spot bombings and those carried out by the separatists."
Earlier on, authorities said they suspected that last week's bombings were likely driven by politics and tied to an Aug. 7 constitutional referendum where a majority of voters supported a draft charter backed by Thailand's junta.
Malaysia probes SIM card, phone used in Thai bombing
A bomb that was set off in Phuket last week was triggered by a mobile phone which may have originated from neighboring Malaysia, according to Thai officials.
The officials sent the phone, which was recovered from the site of the bombing, to Malaysian police to track down the owner.
But on Tuesday, Malaysian Inspector General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar told reporters in Kuala Lumpur that the phone's SIM card had no serial number or characteristics that would clearly identify it.
"As far as our investigation is concerned, there is still no evidence that it can be said that the SIM card is from Malaysia," the Malaysian police chief said.
"Each SIM card issued by [telecommunications companies] in Malaysia has a serial number by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), but we did not find the serial number," he added.
Haireez Azeem Azizi in Kuala Lumpur contributed to this report.


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BENARNEWS- Thai police Friday charged 15 people for allegedly belonging to a movement that was trying to overthrow the nation's military-controlled government.
The 15 alleged members of the United Front for Democratic Revolution Party were charged at the Crime Suppression Bureau in Bangkok with defying the junta's ban on political gatherings of five or more people and forming a "crime syndicate," said Maj. Gen. Chayapol Chatchaidej, the superintendent of the police's counter-crime planning division.
People convicted of the latter offense can face up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to 20,000 baht (U.S. $577).
"Initially, there are no links to the bombings in the south, but they intended to overthrow the government," Chayapol told reporters, referring to 11 bombings that rocked tourist hotspots across southern Thailand last week, killing four people and injuring at least 34 more.
Immediately after the bombings on Aug. 11-12, Thai authorities said these were likely politically motivated and linked to a constitutional referendum, in which a majority of voted earlier this month for a draft charter backed by the junta.
The 15 were taken into custody after the attacks, but Chatchaidej did not detail what actions they had taken to overthrow the regime or what constituted a criminal syndicate.
"This group used to be part of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), but splintered in dissent to form the United Front for Democratic Revolution Party," Col. Burin Thongprapai, a legal officer for the Thai junta, told reporters.
Earlier, Burin said that investigators had found an AK-47 rifle while searching the house of one of the suspects.
"The charges are unreasonable and unclear," Winyat Chartmontri, a lawyer representing the 15, told BenarNews in a telephone interview.
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan defended the proceedings.
"If the accusation is unfounded, why did the court issue the warrants? They did (illegal activities) all along," Prawit told reporters on Friday without elaborating.


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BENARNEWS- As many as 20 people suspected of involvement in bomb and arson attacks at tourist hotspots across southern Thailand on Aug. 11 and 12 come from its insurgency-wracked Deep South, the national police chief said Monday.
The revelation by Police Gen. Chakthip Chaijinda at a news conference in Bangkok was the first time that Thai authorities established a broader link between the restive region and 11 bomb attacks in seven provinces in the country's upper south that killed four and injured dozens. Last week, Thai authorities issued an arrest warrant for a man from the Deep South, who is wanted in connection with those attacks.
However, in addition to not ruling out the possibility that southern separatists could be trying to expand their armed rebellion north of the confines of the predominantly Muslim Deep South, Chakthip said investigators were still looking at other possible motives for the bombings and arson attacks farther north.
Those responsible for them could also include people belonging to a movement opposed to this month's constitutional referendum, in which a majority of Thais voted for a junta-backed draft charter, the police chief said. A majority of at least 60 percent in the three provinces that make up most of the Deep South voted against the charter.
The 20 suspects represent a mix of old hands from the Deep South and people from the region who have no criminal background, Chaktip said.
"Officials can identify some perpetrators in many attack scenes because some of them are on arrest warrants in the Deep South. But many of them are newbies without criminal records," he told reporters.
"But whether the old hands led the attacks or not, and which group carried out the attacks, we cannot disclose now. No one claimed responsibilities, be they BRN or Wadah," he said, referring to Barisan Revolusi Nasional, the main rebel group in the Deep South, and Wadah, a group aligned with political parties linked to former prime ministers Thaksin and Yingluck Shinawatra.
Chakthip did not identify the 20 suspects.
"The assailants must have been trained in Pondok [Islamic high schools] and from abroad. They have behaved differently than general Muslims and dressed up like tourists when they carried out the attacks," Chakthip said.
Manhunt
Meanwhile in the Deep South, authorities launched a manhunt for Ahama Lengha, a native of Narathiwat province, who was the subject of an arrest warrant last week. At the time, Deputy National Police Chief Gen. Srivara Ransibrahmanakul said that evidence from the scene of an attempted bombing in Phuket on Aug. 10 matched DNA from the suspect.
A bomb planted at Patong Beach in Phuket did not go off, but police believe that Ahama also participated in the wider plot that resulted in the 11 bomb attacks and five arson attacks over the next two days.
On Monday, a security source in Narathiwat told BenarNews that Ahama, who has a criminal record dating to 2008, worked at a fertilizer factory in Malaysia, about 15 km (9 miles) from Thailand's southern border.
Two days earlier, security forces in the Deep South cited martial law and an emergency decree as they searched Natohdul Islahiyah Pondok, an Islamic high school in Pattani province's Sai Buri district, looking for 24-year-old Madsaifudin Lomang, police said.
A security force official, who asked not to be named, told BenarNews that residents from the Pattani and Narathiwat had been linked to the attacks, but that some had fled to Malaysia.


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BENARNEWS- Delegations representing Thailand and southern rebel groups will likely meet in Kuala Lumpur in early September to resume informal peace talks, well-placed sources on both sides told BenarNews.
The talks, aimed ultimately at ending a long-running separatist insurgency in the Thai Deep South, stalled nearly four months ago when the Thai side declined to sign off on ground rules or Terms of Reference (TOR) for future negotiations, according to the rebel side.
Sub-committees from both sides met in mid-August to discuss new terms, said the sources who declined to share more details.
"Both technical teams made significant progress in the TOR discussion on 16/8/16 through a compromise approach," Abu Hafiz Al-Hakim, a spokesman for MARA Patani, a panel representing rebel groups and factions, told BenarNews.
"We are set to kick start the process formally soon," he said, adding that neighboring Malaysia, which has been brokering peace efforts in the Deep South, was to confirm the date of the next meeting in the Malaysian capital.
The meeting has tentatively been set for Sept. 1 or 2, Hafiz said.
A source within the Internal Security Operations Command, which oversees military operations across the Deep South, gave similar information.
"After the sub-committees agreed on the TOR, next, there will be a full delegate talk, tentatively on Sept. 2. Malaysia will be the facilitator," the source told BenarNews on condition of anonymity.
'They must stop inciting violence'
In Bangkok on Tuesday, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha, who heads Thailand's military government, told reporters that he had ordered officials to consider a date for talks with the rebels.
"There is a tentative date and the security section is considering it... If [the dissidents] are sincere they must stop inciting violence and not use it to force Thailand to speed up talks," he said after a cabinet meeting at Government House.
When the talks faltered in late April, Gen. Aksara Kerdpol, the head of the Thai delegation, said a limited ceasefire had to be in place before Thailand could agree to the terms of reference.
The setback came days after a top Thai negotiator, Lt. Gen. Nakrob Boonbuathong, who had been involved in the peace process since it began in 2013 under a civilian-led government, was removed from his role in current informal talks.
Meanwhile, lethal bombings and roadside shootings blamed on insurgents have continued. Deadly bombings rocked areas frequented by tourists in Thailand's upper south on Aug. 11-12, and officials have linked those attacks to at least 20 people from the Deep South.
The last round of official peace talks, which started before the junta seized power two years ago, petered out after Hassan Bin Toyib, the lead negotiator of Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), the largest and most heavily armed of the southern rebel groups, appeared in an online video in December 2013. In it, he listed a set of rebel demands, including that the Thai government recognize the sovereignty of the "Patani Malay Nation" – a reference to
Thailand's predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking southern border region, otherwise known as the Deep South.
Thailand's Deep South encompasses Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat provinces, and four districts of Songkhla. A separatist insurgency has simmered in the Deep South since the 1960s. Since it reignited in 2004, more than 6,500 people have been killed.
'Pessimistic'
The bombings that killed four at tourist hotspots earlier this month occurred days after a majority of Thais voted in favor of a new constitution that would cement military control over Thailand's political institutions and usher in general election sometime next year.
At least 60 percent of people who cast ballots across the Deep South voted against the charter.
"Even if the two sides meet, I am really pessimistic," Zachary Abuza, an expert on the Deep South and professor at the National War College in Washington, told BenarNews on Tuesday.
"The charter that was just approved in that shambolic referendum, completely precludes any devolution of power or regional autonomy. The enshrinement of Buddhist nationalism is, furthermore, an anathema to the interests of the Malay community," he said, adding, "The Thai military's position has always been to degrade the insurgency to the point that they could ascribe the violence to mere criminality without having to make any significant concessions in a peace process."
Rapee Mama in Narathiwat, Thailand and Imran Vittachi in Washington contributed to this report.


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BENARNEWS- Thailand confirmed Tuesday that it was processing a Malaysian request to extradite 10 suspects to the neighbouring country in connection with the discovery of mass graves at a human trafficking camp in northern Malaysia in May 2015.
Speaking after a cabinet meeting Tuesday, Gen. Prawit Wongsuwan, Thailand's deputy prime minister and defense minister, said the extradition would happen if all legal requirements were met.
"If it is doable, we can send them over. I am having the immigration police see what happened and at which stage they are at. If we can send [them], we will," Prawit told reporters in Bangkok.
The nationalities of suspects were not immediately disclosed.
On Tuesday, a senior Malaysian official – Norzihan Tamdi, special officer to Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi – told BenarNews they were Thai nationals.
Zahid announced the extradition deal after bilateral meetings during Prawit's one-day visit to Malaysia on Monday.
He said Malaysian officials had advised Bangkok in early August about 10 individuals between the ages of 35 and 60, who were wanted in connection with mass graves discovered in Wang Kelian in the northern state of Perlis in May 2015.
"I handed over the names and today, the Thai authorities informed us of the action taken as a follow-up to Malaysia's request. We will take custody of the 10 people as soon as Thailand hands them over to us," Malaysian state news agency Bernama quoted him as saying.
"They must be extradited to allow for legal action to be taken against them. We do not want the international community to view the case as only a Malaysian one, but a cross-border crime," he said.
"However, the extradition must go through several processes as well as legal procedures, and it must be in accordance with the International Transfer of Prisoners," Zahid added.
Some of the 10 suspects were already in Thai custody, Zahid said.
Three sentenced so far
Zahid – who is also Malaysia's home minister – added that his country was seeking Thai cooperation in identifying individuals with dual nationalities. Malaysia has asked Thailand to provide fingerprints or biometric data to positively identify dual Malay-Thai citizens as a security precaution.
In May 2015, Malaysian officials discovered 139 graves containing 106 corpses in abandoned human smuggling camps in Bukit Genting Perah and Bukit Wang Burma, hundreds of meters from the Thai-Malaysia border, near the town of Wang Kelian.
The same month, 36 corpses were found in similar sites on the Thai side of the border.
Following that discovery, Thailand launched a crackdown on human smuggling that triggered a humanitarian crisis. Close to 3,000 ethnic Rohingya from Myanmar and Bangladesh nationals, abandoned by their handlers, suddenly came ashore in Malaysia and Indonesia.
As many as 103 individuals, including a Thai army general, are on trial for human smuggling in Thailand, a lawyer involved in the case told BenarNews.
For the last two years, in its annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report, the U.S. government has placed Malaysia on its Tier Two Watch List – one level above the lowest ranking. Thailand was upgraded from Tier Three this year.
Malaysia has launched a national action plan with the aim of reaching tier one by 2020.
To date, however, the country has prosecuted only three individuals for human trafficking stemming from the Wang Kelian case.
On Aug. 19, a court in Perlis sentenced two 18-year-old Myanmar nationals to three years in prison for smuggling a 15-year-old boy in the Wang Kelian area between August 2014 and March 2015. The two defendants, named as Shahidullah and Momotin, told the court they had committed the crime to avoid being beaten.
In June 2016, the Perlis High Court sentenced Bangladeshi national, Nurul Islam, 32, to 10 years in prison on three counts of human smuggling and trafficking. During his trial, Nurul Islam claimed he was forced to commit the offenses by another agent of a smuggling syndicate who would beat him if he refused to follow orders.


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BENARNEWS- A Chinese college student and political asylum-seeker detained in Thailand for having an expired passport is incommunicado after going back to China voluntarily, fellow activists said.
Xu Zhenxin, 19, was detained last month after Thai police asked for his identification en route to the northern city of Chiang Rai, where he had hoped to find work.

Veteran Thailand-based political refugee Li Yuzhou, who had been living in the country for seven years, also "voluntarily" returned to China, local sources told Radio Free Asia, a sister entity of BenarNews.

Xu arrived back in China at Guangzhou's international airport on Aug. 24, after which he was briefly contacted by a fellow refugee.

"He got out of the airport after getting off the plane at Guangzhou airport, and I was talking to him by phone at that time," the refugee, who asked to remain anonymous, said.

"But we only spoke a few words, then he hung up."

The Thailand-based Chinese asylum-seeker said Xu said he was acting of his own free will, but that friends who met with him thought was "wasn't himself."

"He said he was determined to go home, and that he'd already bought the plane ticket," the refugee said. "But we haven't heard anything from him since, and we don't know if he's been detained or not."

'Miserable'

Thailand-based political activist Li Xiaolong said Xu had seemed miserable when he visited him last month at the immigration detention center where he was being held.

"Xiao Lin [another activist] later told me he had already attempted suicide," Li said.

Xu arrived in Thailand last November after taking a cross-border bus to Vietnam and a flight to Bangkok.

He had already received approval for resettlement as a political asylum-seeker, and held a UNHCR letter of protection.

A former freshman student at the Nanjing Post and Telecommunications University, Xu described himself as a political activist who frequently handed out leaflets calling for democratic reform on the streets of the city.

He had been interrogated several times by the city's state security police, who had beaten him at least twice, fellow refugees said.

He also spent a week in a "black jail," an unofficial detention center, they said.

Climate of fear

Xu's detention comes amid a growing climate of fear for Chinese dissidents who have sought political refuge in Thailand.

Claims of his voluntary return are also reminiscent of statements made by Chinese police that five Hong Kong booksellers detained last year for selling "banned books" to customers in China had willingly cooperated with police investigations.

Veteran refugee Li Yuzhou had also asked to go back to China after getting into an altercation last month with guards at the Bangkok Immigration Detention Center, Li said.

"The guards at the immigration detention center told my wife that he was sent back to China on Aug. 29," he said.

"[They said] that Li Yuzhou wanted to leave Thailand, because he would have been effectively locked up here indefinitely," Li said.

Thailand-based refugee Lin Dajun said Li Yuzhou had been talking of going back to China for the past couple of years, but his friends had tried to stop him.

"He had been talking about going back for the past couple of years, but a  lot of people told him to wait and see whether the United Nations would help him or not," Lin said.

"The U.N. handled his case very badly, so this isn't a recent thing," he said. "We all told him that if he went home, he'd never get the chance to leave again."

Repeated calls to the Bangkok Immigration Detention Center rang unanswered during office hours on Monday.

Pressure to spy

Li Yuzhou fled China in 2002 after Beijing state security police put pressure on him to spy on fellow political activists in the Youth Study Group.

Li Yuzhou wrote about their demands and posted the information online. He then joined the Thailand branch of the banned opposition China Democracy Party (CDP) soon after arriving in the country.

He was detained in an immigration detention center in Sept. 9, 2009, after being accused of planting fake explosive devices, and had twice resisted attempts by the Chinese government to extradite him.

Li Xiaolong's wife Gu Qiao is facing deportation for illegal immigration after the family were rescued from the wreck of a sailing yacht off the coast of southern Thailand.

Gu, who holds no passport, is being held in an immigration detention center, and recently pleaded guilty to immigration offenses, paving the way for her repatriation.

Li was released on bail with the children, while another refugee who sailed with them, Zhao Wei, was released because he holds a valid Thai visa, as were two other members of the yacht's crew.

Gu was later transferred to the Bangkok Immigration Detention Center from a similar facility in Chumphon, where the rescue operation took place.

Two handed back

Li, a founding member of the CDP from the southwestern province of Guangxi, escaped China with his family in 2014, before being classified a genuine refugee by UNHCR.

He had set up a local chapter of the party while in Thailand, and was also vocal in the campaign to prevent the repatriation of Chongqing-based activists Dong Guangping and Jiang Yefei.

Jiang and Dong, who had fled persecution in their home country, were handed back to Chinese authorities last November in a move that drew strong criticism from the U.N. They are now in criminal detention in Chongqing, where they face subversion charges.

Jiang's wife Chu Ling and Dong's wife Gu Shuhua and daughter Dong Xuerui flew to Canada from Bangkok for resettlement as political refugees just days after the two men were repatriated. They now fear Jiang and Dong are at risk of torture and other violations of their rights.


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BENARNEWS- Thailand's deputy prime minister has confirmed that peace talks with southern rebels will take place in Kuala Lumpur on Friday, but that the Thai government is moving to boost security in the insurgency zone through a new "forward command post."
"For peace talks, we will follow up on Sept. 2," Deputy PM and Defense Minister Gen. Prawit Wongsuwan told journalists in Bangkok on Monday, confirming information reported by BenarNews last week.
He was answering a question about the prospect of Malaysia-brokered exploratory negotiations resuming for the first time in four months, despite a spate of bombings that killed six and injured dozens more in Thailand's upper south and insurgency-ridden Deep South earlier this month.
The confirmation came a week after Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha told reporters that Thailand's military government was considering a date for a new round of informal talks with MARA Patani, a panel representing rebel groups and factions from the Deep South. But, Prayuth warned, the junta would not be forced through violence into speeding up talks.
Meanwhile, investigators probing 11 bombings and a series of arson attacks that hit tourist hotspots across the upper south on Aug. 11 and 12 have said that at least 20 people from the Deep South were involved in those deadly plots.
Thai NSC chief: 'We will see how it comes out'
The talks, aimed ultimately at ending a separatist insurgency that has killed more than 6,000 people in Thailand's predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking southern border region, stalled nearly four months ago when the Thai side declined to sign off on ground rules, known as Terms of Reference (TOR), for future negotiations. Thailand has not held formal peace talks with the rebels since December 2013, when a civilian government was in charge.
Prawit spoke to reporters after returning Monday from a visit to neighboring Malaysia, where he discussed bilateral security cooperation with Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, the Bangkok Post reported.
The next day, the secretary general of Thailand's National Security Council spoke to BenarNews about the upcoming talks in Malaysia.
"Malaysia will be a facilitator. It all depends on when and how we and the dissidents are ready to talk," Gen. Taweep Netniyom said in a phone interview.
"Gen. Aksara (Kerdpol) is prepared for the talks and we will see how it comes out," Taweep said, referring to the head of the Thai delegation. "We need to be sure that the talks represent all sides so they are effective."
The government has set a precondition that a safety zone – or ceasefire zone – be established to demonstrate that MARA Patani can control insurgents on the ground.
The current peace efforts ground to a halt in late April – the last time that the two sides met in Kuala Lumpur – because the two sides could not agree to a limited ceasefire, which the government was pushing as a condition for advancing the talks.
However, negotiators from both sides met on Aug. 14 to 16 to reach an agreement on new terms of reference ahead of Friday's meeting. No details were released following that meeting.
Government forward command
In his comments to reporters, Prawit said that the government was also planning to establish a "forward command post" to contain violence tied to the southern insurgency. The plan is a fast-track approach that would shorten the chain of command and allow for swift response to outbreaks of violence in the Deep South, the deputy prime minister said.
The post would be led by 10 people with experience in the region, including civilians, he said.
The new forward command would be its own entity and two other institutions – the regional office of the Thai military's Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) and the Southern Border Provinces Administration Center (SBPAC) – would remain intact, according to the Bangkok Post.
The regional forward command would help the prime minister, who is the ex-officio director of ISCO, respond quickly to security concerns, the Post quoted Prawit as saying.
The SBPAC oversees development and civilian affairs involving some 1.7 million people in the Deep South.
Independence Day warning
Meanwhile in the Deep South, government officials have issued public warnings about possible attacks anticipated in the region on Wednesday, when nearby Malaysia will mark its Independence Day.
Aug. 31 also marks the region's celebration of Bersatu (The United Front for the Independence of Pattani), which recognizes insurgents who fought the Thai government in 1989.
"Intelligence units told us they found insurgents trying to attack officials in Yala. During the Malaysia Independence Day in the past, insurgents carried out violent attacks in three provinces and four districts of Songkhla [province],"  police Maj. Gen. Songkiat Watakul, the commander of Yala provincial police, told BenarNews.
Malaysian prime minister coming to Thailand
Friday's round of peace talks is scheduled about a week before Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak is scheduled to travel to Thailand.
Najib will visit Thailand on Sept. 8 and 9, when both nations are expected to approve memoranda of understanding including on dual citizenship, transnational crime, transportation, as well as building a fence along their common border.


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BENARNEWS- The Thai junta and southern insurgents both said Thursday they were going ahead with a new round of informal peace talks in Kuala Lumpur on Friday, but the government warned that ongoing violence by rebels could impede the process.
"The talks are not cancelled, but we will try to tell them to stop violence first so that the [peace] process can progress to the point where we can have clear schedules of what we will do and sign them," Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwan told reporters in Bangkok.
"It has not been cancelled. The [Thai] dialogue team will go to Malaysia on Sept. 2," he added, in responding to questions from journalists.
Last week, according to media reports, Prawit had said he didn't know if negotiations would be put on hold due to a car-bombing that killed two people outside a hotel in Pattani, one of the provinces in Thailand's insurgency-ridden Deep South.
Two days earlier, Thai officials had said they suspected that as many as 20 people from the Deep South were involved in 11 bombings that killed four people at tourist sites across the upper south on Aug. 11-12.
The Thai junta has set a precondition that the rebel side must agree to a "safety zone" – or limited ceasefire – before they can sign off on ground rules for future negotiations, known as the Terms of Reference (TOR).
On Thursday, Prawit indicated there would be "no signing of a TOR" on Friday in Kuala Lumpur.
On the rebel side, MARA Patani spokesman Abu Hafiz Al-Hakim told BenarNews that a one-day meeting with the Thai delegation was set for Friday in the Malaysian capital.
Sukree Haree, a senior leader of Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) – the largest and most heavily armed of the southern Thai insurgent groups – will lead the rebel delegation, Hafiz said.
He shared no more details.
Widows and orphans
Since 2015, Thailand's military government has held a series of exploratory meetings with MARA Patani, a panel representing rebel groups and factions from the Deep South, in an effort to reopen official peace talks last held in 2013, when a civilian-led government was in power in Bangkok.
But the most recent talks ground to a halt four months ago, when the Thai side declined to agree to the TOR being considered at that time. Signing the TOR would formally launch the talks.
More than 6,000 people have died through roadside bombings, shootings and other violence associated with the insurgency in Thailand's Muslim-dominated, Malay-speaking southern border region since the conflict flared up again in 2004.
In Pattani province on Thursday, more than 100 women representing local NGOs marched in Muang district, calling for the issue of the safety zone to be discussed at Friday's meeting.
"The unrest in the southern provinces has killed and wounded many thousands of people and has left nearly 4,000 widows and 7,000 orphans. That is the reason we are calling on the issue of a safety area [to be put] on the peace-talk agenda," Rosida Pusu, chairwoman of the Southern Women's Peace Network to Stop Violence, told BenarNews.
Upcoming visit by Malaysian PM
The Deep South lies across the border with Malaysia, which is facilitating the talks.
Apart from being home to an insurgency, the Deep South is notorious as a zone for cross-border crime. Thai authorities also have long suspected insurgents of crossing the border to launch attacks inside Thailand and then retreating to safe havens in Malaysia.
Many people living on both sides of the border hold dual Thai-Malaysian citizenship.
The issue of dual citizenship will be high on the agenda when Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak arrives in Thailand on Sept. 8-9 for talks with his Thai counterpart, Prayuth Chan-o-cha.
At the end of those meetings, the two nations are expected to sign off on memoranda about dual citizenship, cross-border violence and criminality, and the construction of a fence along their common border, among other matters.
Razlan Rashid in Kuala Lumpur and Nasueroh in Pattani, Thailand contributed to this report.


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BENARNEWS- In their latest round of exploratory peace talks, representatives of the Thai government and southern rebel groups agreed Friday to discuss a limited ceasefire at future meetings, including a proposal by a network of women's groups in the conflict zone.
"The Thai peace-talk team addressed the Thai PM's concerns and wish to end violence on the ground before all else. This coincided with Deep South women activists' demands for safety zones," Gen. Aksara Kerdpol, chief of the Thai negotiating team, told reporters upon returning to Bangkok on Friday afternoon from the meeting in Kuala Lumpur.
"So we passed these demands on to the dissidents [Party B] so they may consider them, reply in writing, or place them on the agenda for the next meeting," he said, referring to the rebel side.
Abu Hafiz Al-Hakim, the spokesman for MARA Patani, a panel representing rebel groups and factions, said both sides agreed to talk about safety zones at future meetings. No date was given for when the next encounter would take place.
"We are now seeking NGOs to come up with proposals on safety zones; as they are on the ground, they know the situation better. ... At the moment, we have one from Women's Agenda for Peace, an all-women based NGO. The NGO has a network of 23 civil societies in the Deep South and they're pushing for peace," he told BenarNews.
"I won't say today's meeting is a big step forward, but it is a step forward, as we had many obstacles before," Abu Hafiz said, adding, "and now we have agreed upon talking about an important stage – which is safety zones."
Representatives from Malaysia, which is brokering the peace process, declined to comment.
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Abu Hafiz Al-Hakim (wearing red tie), spokesman for MARA Patani, and other members of the panel representing Thai Deep South rebel groups hold a post-meeting press conference at the Swiss Garden Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Sept. 2, 2016. [Hata Wahari/BenarNews]
Bombings 'not an expansion' of insurgency
The three-hour meeting in the Malaysian capital marked the first time that full delegations from both sides had met since late Aprilin efforts to resume formal talks, stalled since 2013, for ending a long-running separatist insurgency in Thailand's predominantly Muslim Deep South.
After the April meeting, Kerdpol said both sides had to agree to so-called safety zones – or a limited ceasefire – before Thailand could agree to ground rules for formal peace talks, or Terms of Reference (TOR).
In mid-August, technical teams from the two sides hammered out a revised TOR, but neither Kerdpol nor a spokesman for the rebels divulged any details about that on Friday.
Friday's meeting took place despite deadly bombings last month that targeted tourist areas in Thailand's upper south, which Thai officials have linked to people from the Deep South. Eleven bombings killed four people at tourist sites across the upper south on Aug. 11-12.
However, Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan said Friday he was confident that the attacks did not signify a widening of the insurgency that has killed more than 6,000 people in Thailand's southern border region since 2004.
"I am confident the attacks were not the expansion [of insurgent operations], but a political issue," Prawit told reporters in Bangkok, suggesting that someone had funded the attacks to instigate unrest.
Car-bomb found, defused
The meeting went on despite a car-bomb being found and defused early Friday morning outside a police station in Narathiwat, one of the provinces of the Deep South, local authorities said.
According to a rebel source, disgruntled members of Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), one of the insurgent groups represented on MARA Patani, were trying to send a message.
"We intend to have the bomb explode on the day the Thais and MARA Patani hold talks because we want to voice disagreement to MARA Patani," an unnamed BRN member told BenarNews on Friday.
The network of women's NGOs from the Deep South had made themselves heard before Friday's meeting by demonstrating in the streets of Pattani province a day earlier, calling on both sides to make the issue of safety zones a priority. Ahead of the meeting, the network also submitted a proposal on safety zone to the delegations.
"I have high hope for the peace-talk process and am glad that both sides heeded the calls from female citizens," Rosida Pusu, chairwoman of the Southern Women's Peace Network to Stop Violence – one of 23 NGOs that submitted the proposal and marched on Thursday – told BenarNews on Friday.
"Streets, markets, temples, mosques and school must be safe for all innocents," she added.
Rapee Mama in Narathiwat, Thailand and Nasueroh in Pattani, Thailand contributed to this report.


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BENARNEWS- A 4-year-old girl and her father were among three killed when a motorcycle-bomb exploded across the street from a school in Thailand's troubled Deep South on Tuesday morning, authorities said.
In a highly unusual move later in the day, a member of Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) – the largest armed separatist group operating in the region – told BenarNews that his combat unit had carried out the attack in Narathiwat province's Tak Bai district, as well as recent deadly bombings in the Deep South and at tourist sites in provinces farther north.
"We claim that the attack in Tak Bai district was the act of our operation, as well as the train bombing and those attacks in the seven upper southern provinces too," said the leader of a BRN combat unit known as Runda Kumpulan Kecil (RKK), who asked not to be named.
He was referring to the bombing of a train that killed a railway worker in Pattani – another Deep South province – on Saturday, and 11 bombings that killed four and wounded dozens at sites in Thailand's upper south on Aug. 11-12. Twelve days later, a car-bomb went off outside a hotel in Pattani town, killing two people and injuring 38.
The RKK, according to the source, was also responsible for a car-bomb that was defused outside a police station in Narathiwat on Friday morning – the very day that the Thai government resumed informal peace talks in Kuala Lumpur with MARA Patani, a panel representing various rebel groups and factions in the Deep South, after a four-month hiatus.
The BRN is represented on the panel but its membership has been divided over pursing formal peace talks with Thailand's military government.
"We want to respond to the talks that made no progress ...," the RKK leader said, adding. "[T]he government does not show their sincerity for a real peace."
He said his unit did not intend to kill civilians but was targeting police officers.
Thai police have pinned suspicion for the upper south bombings on at least 20 suspects from the Deep South, but officials said those attacks did not represent a widening of the regional insurgency that has killed more than 6,000 people since 2004.
The rebel groups from the Deep South rarely, if ever, claim responsibility for roadside bombings or shootings in the predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking region.
Attack not related to talks, upper south blasts: officials
The explosion near the Ban Taba primary school took place as parents were escorting their children to the schoolhouse.
The blast killed Mayeng Wohba and his daughter, Mitra Wohba, authorities said.
A 23-year-old civilian, Talmese Mada-o, was also killed and nine others were wounded, including four officials, according to the Thai army's Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC).
The 20-kilo (44-pound) bomb was inside a gas cylinder rigged to the front basket of the motorcycle, which was parked in front of a shop opposite the entrance to the school, ISOC officials said. The perpetrators had stolen the bike from its owner, who was shot dead in Tak Bai on June 19, officials said.
Col. Yuthanam Petchmuang, a deputy spokesman for the forward office of ISOC's regional headquarters, said insurgents were suspected of being behind the attack, but "it was not related to the attacks in the seven upper southern provinces and the peace talks."
According to Krisana Yuangsa-ard, commander of the army's 31stspecial unit in Narathiwat, the group that carried out Tuesday's bombing was led by an insurgent known as Romli Jehyi.
"Our authorities have been tracking down their criminal operations, but did not expect that the criminals would plan a motorcycle bomb in front of the shop opposite the school," Krisana told reporters.


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BENARNEWS- Hundreds gathered Wednesday at a school in Thailand's Deep South to mourn and pray for peace, a day after a bomb near the campus killed a small girl, her father and a third civilian, in an attack blamed on rebels.
Students, teachers, Islamic leaders and local government officials were among some 500 who turned out at the Ban Taba school in Tak Bai, a district of Narathiwat province, to call for an end to violence in Thailand's southern border region.
The latest attack angered the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), Human Rights Watch, and the Sheikhul Islam Office, a government organization that represents Thailand's Muslim minority, which dominates the Malay-speaking Deep South.
"The Sheikhul Islam Office sincerely offers condolences to the family and relatives of the dead in the incident and strongly condemns the assailants regardless of who they are. The attack is cruel and inhumane and is against the exaltation of Allah's teaching," the office said in a statement released late Tuesday.
Narathiwat Governor Sithichai Sakda, who was among those participating in the gathering at the school, told reporters he had talked with local authorities about assessing and possibly revamping safety measures in 13 districts of the province.
"We discussed with the military and the police about surveying areas with high risk to analyse safety measures. It is a delicate issue that we need to consider carefully," the governor said.
Since 2004, more than 6,000 people have died in shootings, roadside bombings and other incidents associated with a separatist insurgency.
UNICEF, HRW deplore attack
A 20-kilo (44-pound) motorcycle bomb went off across the street from the school as parents were taking their children there on Tuesday morning, killing a 4-year-old girl and two other civilians, and injuring at least nine others, including four security personnel, authorities said.
A leader of a combat unit of Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) – the largest and most heavily armed of the southern Thai rebel groups – later told BenarNews that his unit had carried out the attack, along with recent deadly bombings in the Deep South and 11 others at tourist areas in nearby provinces.
The rebel source said his unit had not intended to kill civilians in Tuesday's attack, but was targeting officials.
The unit known as Runda Kumpulan Kecil (RKK) was sending a message about informal peace talks that resumed last week in Kuala Lumpur between the Thai junta and MARA Patani, a panel representing rebel groups and factions from the Deep South, he said.
BRN is among the represented groups but the organization's factions are not entirely united over the peace process.
"We want to respond to the talks that made no progress ...," the RKK leader said, adding. "[T]he government does not show their sincerity for a real peace."
After the attack, UNICEF's representative in Thailand issued a statement voicing grave concern that another child and a parent had fallen victim to ongoing unrest in the Thai Deep South.
"UNICEF is shocked and saddened by this incident. Schools must be places of learning, discovery and recreation for children," UNICEF representative Thomas Davin said.
"No children, nor any caretakers or education professionals should live or learn under fear of such attacks. All schools must become safe havens," he added.
On Wednesday, New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) condemned the attack as a war crime.
"Those responsible for bombing a school just as parents were dropping off their children showed incomprehensible brutality," Brad Adams, HRW's Asia director, said in a statement. "Calling this a war crime does not fully convey the harm done to the victims or the far-reaching impact such attacks have on children in the region."
HRW noted that a splinter group of BRN known as Barisan Revolusi Nasional-Coordinate (BRN-C) had not ceased attacks on civilians since unofficial peace talks had resumed on Sept. 2.
During the past 12 years more than 200 schools have been burned or targeted with bombs in the Deep South, and at least 182 teachers have been killed, HRW added.
"Human Rights Watch's research has found that since the escalation of armed insurgency in January 2004, the BRN-Coordinate has targeted schools, teachers and other education personnel, which they consider symbolic of the Thai Buddhist state's control of ethnic Malay Muslim territory," the rights watchdog said.


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BENARNEWS- The prime ministers of Malaysia and Thailand vowed Friday in Bangkok that their governments would keep working together to resolve a separatist insurgency in the Thai Deep South as well as strengthen cross-border security ties.
The comments came a week after Malaysia hosted the latest round of informal talks between Thailand's government and southern Thai insurgents, and despite a spate of deadly bombings in southern Thailand over the past month claimed by the largest rebel group in the Muslim, Malay-speaking region.
"n the context of security, Malaysia continues to be willing to provide our role as a facilitator to help in the peace process in the south. I, once again, reaffirm our commitment – and also our understanding – that this is a Thai domestic matter and will proceed according to the framework and guidelines given by the Thai government," Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said during a joint news conference late Friday.
"We agreed on the issues of security, trade, the border economy as well as the peace talks for the Deep South," Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha told the news conference that followed bilateral talks in Bangkok.
'They move between our countries'
The two prime ministers said they agreed that their countries would share intelligence in collaborating to fight global terrorism and cross-border criminality such as human trafficking and smuggling.
"These are very, very important matters for us to work closely together because some of the perpetrators, they move between our two countries. So the security agencies need to cooperate closely together so that we will be able to apprehend them and bring them to justice," Najib added.
The border region between Malaysia and Thailand is known to be rife with criminal activity, and southern Thai insurgents are believed to crisscross the frontier regularly. Thais suspect that people on the Malaysian side of the border harbor and aid southern rebels.
"Today, we must strongly cooperate in solving [all] problems, because the problems inside Thailand cause impact on Malaysia as well. We will use proper methods, such as intelligence exchange, information crosschecks, and immigration procedures," Prayuth added.
The two PMs agreed to move ahead with exploring joint plans to build a wall or fence to secure their common border, according to Najib.
"[M]alaysia will continue to help in terms of vocational training for some of the young people in the south," Najib told reporters. Prime Minister Prayuth has requested us to help in terms of religious schools in the south so that they are able to study both academic as well as religious subjects."
Alleged BRN involvement in bombings questioned
On Tuesday, the commander of a combat unit with the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) – the largest and deadliest of southern insurgent groups – told BenarNews that his unit had carried out a bombing that day that killed a four-year-old schoolgirl, and several other attacks over the past month.
The attacks claimed by the BRN member killed a total of 10 people and included 11 bombings over two days at tourist areas outside of the Deep South.
Thai officials had earlier announced that the bombings at tourist areas in the upper south were connected to people from the Deep South, but denied that the attacks represented a widening of the insurgency.
On Friday, the head of the Thai army questioned the accuracy of the report during a visit to Pattani, one of the provinces in the Deep South.
"Re a report citing the BRN as saying that the latest bomb and the bomb attacks in seven [upper south] provinces were the work of BRN, it is not quite right," Army Commander-in-Chief Gen. Teerachai Nakwanich told reporters.
"Don't get confused because the police's investigation has made great progress and all the clues are pointing to gang landers in the areas," he said.
MARA Patani, the panel representing southern Thai rebel groups and factions in informal peace talks with the Thai government, including BRN, on Thursday condemned the school bombing on its Facebook page.
"Regarding the bombings in Taba School on the morning of 6/9/16, MARA Patani condemns the violence that involved death / injury to civilians, including children. We sympathize with all the victims and urge the authorities to investigate the incident thoroughly to identify the real perpetrators," the statement said.
"Mara Patani adheres to conflict resolution through peaceful dialogue. We call on all parties to act rationally and not make soft targets victims of the conflict in the future."


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BENARNEWS- Rights advocates called on Thailand's junta Tuesday to transfer hundreds of current cases against civilians out of military courts, a day after the regime announced there would be no new military trials of civilians on charges related to national security.
Military courts usually are reserved for military personnel but the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), as the junta is known, had expanded their jurisdiction after seizing power in May 2014.
Since then military tribunals have tried upward of 1,800 Thai civilians in more than 1,500 national security cases ranging from royal defamation (Lese-Majeste), to sedition, defying NCPO orders, and illegal arms possession, according to human rights advocacy groups.
"There are 517 unfinished cases and they will continue to be tried by military courts unless the announcement is made retroactive," Poonsuk Woonsukcharoen of Thai Lawyers for Human Rights told BenarNews on Tuesday.
"All the cases must be transferred to civilian courts."
'NCPO seeks leniency where we can'
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha, who heads the junta, on Monday issued NCPO Order 55/2016, which said that the regime was phasing out new cases in which civilians would be prosecuted in military courts.
"The offenses committed before Sept. 12, will go to military courts and the offenses after Sept. 12 will go to civilian courts. ... After this we won't see civilians going to military court," NCPO spokesman Col. Piyapong Klinpan told BenarNews by phone on Tuesday.
"The situation of Thailand is calm. The NCPO seeks leniency where we can," he added.
The junta announced the move a little more than a month after a majority of voters backed a referendum for a controversial draft constitution that, according to critics, would allow the military to influence the outcome of future elections.
Don Pramudwinai, the Thai minister of foreign affairs, told reporters on Tuesday that the decision on trying civilians before military courts was not a ploy designed to ease international pressure on Thailand as Prayuth prepared to attend the U.N. General Assembly in New York next week.
"I heard about the revocation of the extra power for the military courts for months," Don said. "Now, the atmosphere is good and confidence in public security is regained."
'No one should be fooled'
The two-year-old practice of trying civilians in military courts for perceived public slights against members of the royal family or for criticizing the Thai military government, among other alleged offenses, has drawn criticism from human rights groups and organizations both at home and abroad.
"Almost 2,000 civilians have faced an unjust process and unfair trials before military tribunals, many of whom were prosecuted for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and assembly," Sam Zarifi, Asia director of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), said in a statement reacting to Thailand's announcement.
"All pending cases should be transferred to civilian courts and the convictions of all civilians prosecuted in military courts since the 2014 coup should be set aside," he added.
The Thai move also came a day ahead of the opening of a session of the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, which is reviewing Thailand's periodic report on the climate for rights in the country.
In mid-August, Ravina Shamdasani, a spokesman for the U.N. body, said it was calling on Thailand "to suspend the use of military courts and military orders in cases involving civilians."
On Tuesday, U.S.-based Human Rights Watch issued a statement that described the move by the junta as a "limited step" that appeared "intended to deflect international criticism of Thailand at the United Nations Human Rights Council."
"No one should be fooled by the Thai junta's sleight of hand just before the Human Rights Council begins meeting in Geneva," HRW Asia Director Brad Adams said.
"The decision will spare many Thai civilians the injustice of a military trial, but repressive military rule is still a reality in Thailand."


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BENARNEWS- Thai authorities are making good on their promise to crack down on illegal immigrants by sending thousands of migrant workers back to Cambodia and Vietnam each day, Radio Free Asia, a sister entity of BenarNews, has learned.
Sim Namm Yung, a provincial official in Cambodia's Banteay Meanchey province, told RFA on Thursday that Thailand deported more than 4,000 Cambodian workers back to their homeland in August alone.
At least 300 Cambodians are being sent back home every day, Sim Namm Yung told RFA.
"They are from different parts of Cambodia," she said. "Some went to Thailand by themselves to look for a job, but some were illegally cheated by the brokers."
While Sim Namm Yung said that most of the Cambodians worked in construction and lived in Thailand from three months to a year, some of them were also recently released from jail.
The repatriated Cambodians were packed "like pigs" into vans with metal bars over the windows, Sum Chankea, an official with the Cambodian human rights organization ADHOC, told RFA.
After arriving at the Poipet International Checkpoint in Banteay Meanchey province, the Cambodian authorities "educate" them about the illegal immigration for about 15 to 20 minutes, before allowing them to return to their home villages.
"Cambodian authorities in charge of workers along the border seem to pay no attention to the problem," Sum Chankea said. "The authorities also are not making any attempts to arrest and punished the brokers who have taken workers to Thailand illegally."
Human traffickers charge Cambodians as much as U.S. $100 per person to illegally transport them across the border in the northwestern part of the country, human rights groups told RFA in April.
Workers, who do not have passports, pay 300,000 to 400,000 riel (U.S. $75 to U.S. $100) each to help them cross over the border in Banteay Meanchey and Battambang provinces, Sum Chankea told RFA at the time.
"Workers have traveled to Thailand like ants," Sum Chankea said in April.
Vietnamese are also sent home
The Thai government is also sending people back to Vietnam.
Most of the Vietnamese appear to be street vendors who set up business in Thailand under a memorandum of understanding reached in 2015.
While the MOU allows Vietnamese to work in Thailand, it restricts their employment to serving as manual laborers or service providers.
A vendor in Rangsit district in Thailand's Pathum Thani province told RFA that the government's crackdown had convinced him to go back to Vietnam.
"I have been here for five or six or years, and I know that I could be jailed anytime," he said. "So, I am thinking about going back home. I told my fellow vendors in Rangsit that we should not go out too much because we might get picked up."
Thailand's immigration problem spans decades, if not centuries, because the country is an important destination for migrant workers and asylum seekers from across the Greater Mekong Delta region as well other parts of Asia.
Speaking via video conference on Sept. 9, Thai immigration chief Nathathorn Phrosunthorn announced a nationwide crackdown designed to flush out foreigners, Thaivisa.com reported.
The job debate
According to the report, he singled out immigrants who are taking Thai jobs in the restaurant business and selling wares on the move.
The country has been criticized for its treatment of migrant workers who are often at the mercy of unscrupulous employers and labor brokers.
"Thailand is a source, destination, and transit country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking," the U.S. State Department wrote in its 2016 Trafficking in Persons Report.
While migrant workers are at risk, they are still drawn to the country because Thailand is a wealthy nation compared with its neighbors.
Thailand's economy grew at an average annual rate of 7.5 percent in the late 1980s and early 1990s, creating millions of jobs that helped pull millions of people out of poverty, according to the World Bank.
That growth has slowed in recent years, with the World Bank reporting a modest 2.8 percent increase in 2015 after a sluggish 0.9 percent in 2014. The outlook for 2016 is for 2.5 percent growth.
According to the Office of the Social and Economic Development Board, workers from Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, China and ethnic minorities from Southeast Asian countries, have cut into businesses reserved for Thais.
'Search and arrest'
"The way to solve these problems is search and arrest," Arak Prommanee, director-general of the Department of Employment, told BenarNews. "Vendor and retail selling jobs are reserved for Thais."
The junta that took power in 2014 from a civilian government widely perceived as being corrupt, issued a pair of executive orders to "clean up" the illegal migrant workers in the capital and nationwide in 2015 and 2016, he said.
Arak described three types of offenders: illegal migrants, documented workers who have jobs for which they are not approved and immigrants who overstay their visas.
But employment issues aren't the only reason the Thais are deporting immigrant workers, Arak said.
"We started tackling the issue when we learnt from news reports that there are illegal workers selling products, which are fake or are contaminated," Arak told BenarNews.
In May, Police in Muak Lek district of Sara Buri that lies about 100 miles north of Bangkok arrested a Vietnamese couple for selling artificial orange juice mixed with dirty water after a photo and story about them was shared on social media and reported in the local newspapers.
"This group of workers came here to sell all sorts of snacks like meat balls, fruit juices and pickled fruits," he said. "That made us aware of how we need to ensure hygiene and food safety for consumers."


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BENARNEWS- A veteran campaigner for migrant-worker rights in Thailand said Tuesday he would appeal his conviction by a Bangkok court on charges that he criminally defamed a Thai pineapple processing company through an online report alleging workplace violations at its factory.
The Bangkok South Criminal Court on Tuesday sentenced labor activist Briton Andy Hall to three years in prison and fined him 150,000 baht [U.S. $4,316], after finding him guilty of defaming the Natural Fruit Co. and violating Thailand's Computer Crimes Act.
"I/my legal team will appeal today's decision in line with Thai justice system. Still fully confident our team/I will receive justice in end," Hall said via Twitter.
The firm sued Hall for defamation over the online publication of a survey that he had helped put together. For the survey, he interviewed workers at the firm's plant in southern Thailand about labor conditions at the factory, which employs 800 people who are mostly from Myanmar.
The court handed him a four-year sentence, but reduced it to a three-year sentence along with the stipulation that he could begin serving his term in two years, his lawyer said.
"I respect the court's decision, but am rather shocked and confused with the verdict [that] I was guilty of defamation [under] the Computer Crimes Act," Hall told reporters outside the courthouse.
'Just involved in research'
Hall undertook the research for Finnwatch, and Tuesday reiterated that he was merely relaying the information he had collected for the Finland-based NGO that advocates global corporate responsibility. In 2013, Finnwatch posted its report on the internet based on Hall's work.
"In fact, I did not put the data online myself. I was just involved in research for report," Hall said.
According to the survey, workers at the plant in Prachuap Khiri Khan province complained that Natural Fruit violated Thai labor law through paying them salaries that were below minimum wage, not giving them sick and holiday leave, and employing children, among other allegations.
In its findings, the court noted that Hall failed to provide evidence that he had interviewed employees at the factory by entering tape recordings of those conversations into the court's record.
Wirach Piyapornphaiboon, the company's owner and president, said the court had vindicated the Natural Fruit Co. through its verdict against Hall.
"This is proof that we ... did not do that [violate labor rights].  Today, I am thankful to the court for justice," he told reporters.
"The court proved that he violated my rights, and, no matter who you are, you will not stand above Thailand's sovereignty," Wirach said, adding that his company had lost 100 million baht (U.S. $2.8 million) in revenue as a result of publicity around the Finnwatch survey.
'A distinctly chilling effect'
The court's decision, however, represents a blow to the rights of more than 3 million migrants who work in Thailand, representatives of Finnwatch and international human rights organizations said.
"We are shocked by today's verdict.  The report was authored and published by Finnwatch; we take full responsibility for it.  Andy has been made a scapegoat in order to stifle other voices that speak out legitimately in support of migrant worker rights," Finnwatch Executive Director Sonja Vartiala said.
"This is a sad day for freedom of expression in Thailand. We fear that many other human rights defenders and victims of company abuse will be scared to silence by this ruling," she added.
The U.N.'s human rights office for Southeast Asia also weighed in about Tuesday's verdict.
"Just a day after world leaders committed to a landmark U.N. declaration to 'strengthen the positive contributions made by migrants to economic and social development in their host countries,' this court decision is very disturbing," said Laurent Meillan, the acting regional representative of the Office for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.
"Instead of prosecuting Mr. Hall, it would have been more appropriate to conduct an independent and thorough investigation into the serious allegations raised in the Finnwatch report."
Earlier this week, U.S.-based Human Rights Watch issued a statement voicing concern about Hall's trial.
"Andy Hall coordinated important research about abuses of workers' rights in Thailand and he should never have been prosecuted for his actions," Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.
"Whatever the verdict, the long and intensive court fight has had a distinctly chilling effect on other activists pressing for the protection of workers' rights in Thai companies, many of which export their products to foreign consumers."


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BENARNEWS- Climate change and its pressure on agriculture to adapt is adding fresh urgency for accurate data amid a fast changing agricultural landscape, experts say.
Statisticians and analysts say such issues surrounding climate change are also adding to the challenges posed by food security, poverty, undernourishment and sustainable development.
Globally work is underway, led by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), to prepare regions for the World Program for the Census for Agriculture 2020 (WACA).
Officials and statisticians from 21 countries met in Bangkok this week as part of steps ahead of the 2020 global survey. The global census will also assess aquaculture and capture fisheries and look at the impacts of greenhouse gas and ammonia emissions on agricultural activities.
The bottom-line for policy makers in agriculture and development, rests on the numbers, said FAO senior statistician, Mukesh Srivastava.
"The statistics we accrue through this fundamental exercise can serve as building blocks to successful and sustainable agricultural policies and actions for countries," Srivastava said.
The goals and technologies used in the surveys will help to feed and improve the livelihoods of the region's growing population "and ensure it meets growing demand, both in the region and worldwide," Srivastava said.
Pressure to reform
Thailand's permanent secretary for the ministry of agriculture and cooperatives (MOAC), Theerapat Prayurasiddhi, said climate change was adding pressure on governments to reform policies, and speed up survey programs through applying information technology (IT).
Thailand, in its latest agricultural survey of 2013, made full use of iPad technology during the survey to record data, speeding up the transfer of information to a central data base.
At the same time, Thai authorities created a national agricultural map, or "agri-ma" – assisting policy makers to support farmers to make better use of resources, such as soil type and less water dependent commodities.
"Climate change will change many things, especially for agriculture and we need to adapt ourselves to stay with climate change. Some areas [face] drought, some areas flood. Right now we try to use agri-map to show all the data," Theerapat told Voice of America (VOA), a sister entity of BenarNews.
Development goals
The programs will be key in gauging whether the world remains on target to reach the Sustainable Development Goals of 2030. The global agreement on climate change reached in Paris in 2015 is a cornerstone for agriculture policy.
FAO's Asia Pacific representative, Kundhavi Kadiresan, said statistics from the census would set policy guidelines for the U.N.'s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and the Paris Climate Change Agreement.
"Commitments made at the Paris Agreement we need statistics. It's all about what was agreed and how are the countries making an effort to reach those targets," Kadiresan told VOA.
"For the SDG Goal 2 – a world free of hunger – that's an enormous target to achieve – and ambitious one too. But it is possible and that's why knowing the people where they are, the very poor, and undernourished helps governments to target their policies and programs accordingly," she said.
Emerging economies
Accurate data is also a challenge for emerging economies such as Bhutan and Timor Leste. For both countries, the survey will be the first comprehensive assessment of their respective agriculture sectors.
The Bhutan government is already aware of the potential future impact from climate change on water and agriculture systems, as well as environmental pressures raised by development.
Chendo Dakpa, chief research officer from Bhutan's Ministry of Agriculture and Forests, said the country was on a learning curve after an initial census fell short technically due to human resource shortcomings.
"Next year's [census] will be vastly improved because the FAO is there to guide," Dakpa said.
The survey's main goals will be to apply the data "as a baseline for the programs and projects over the next 10 years and also to see how we have fared so far from the first census," he said.
For Timor-Leste, the challenges range from topographical to infrastructure with its agricultural economy employing 80 percent of the "active population" from its total of 1.2 million people.
Elias Dos Santos Ferreira, director general of statistics in the ministry of finance, said it would be important to apply the data for the country's future development.
"When we have the data and we analyze and also disseminate at the national level, at the municipality level in the sub-region level and the village level," Santos Ferreira said.
"We need to help them to use the data to do the plan. This is very important because we are the new country – there's still some limit to accessing the municipalities we need to educate them how to use the data, to do the better plan for the future," he said.
In countries with high population densities such as Bangladesh, accurate and detailed information on food supplies is also vital, FAO officials say.
Obtaining such data ensures policy makers are ready for any shocks, including prices, the weather – droughts, cyclones, which have the potential to "knock" a national food system off balance.
 


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BENARNEWS- Three policemen were killed and two others wounded when they were ambushed in a roadside bombing and shooting by suspected rebels in the Thai Deep South on Friday, officials said.
The attack in Yala province's Krong Pinang district brought to 12 the number of people killed in bombings in Thailand's insurgency-stricken far southern border region in recent weeks. Another four people were killed in 11 bombings that struck Thai tourist areas outside the confines of the Deep South last month.
The recent attacks and the one on Friday took place against the backdrop of ongoing efforts by the Thai junta to open formal peace talks with rebels.
Friday's bombing and shooting targeted seven police officers while they were traveling in two pickup trucks between the villages of Ban Benja and Ban Lubohkalo, authorities said.
Officials believe that a group of about seven insurgents was hiding out in a rubber plantation near the road when the bomb went off and struck the second police vehicle. The rebels then came out and opened fire to prevent officers from aiding their colleagues in the exploded truck. The insurgents stole three rifles and three handguns from police before fleeing the scene, officials said.
The dead police officers were identified as Cpl. Nathapong Chartdam, Lance Cpl. Suriya Nunim, and Lance Cpl. Attahapol Luathep.
 
The explosion from the 80-kilo (176-pound bomb) cut the truck in two and left a crater that measured 13 feet wide. The device was hidden in a sewer and triggered with a battery. Remnants of a gas cylinder were found at the scene, according to officials.
Yala police Commander Itthiphol Achariyapradit said officers were hunting for insurgents.
"We believe the attackers were led by Hubaideelah Rommuelee, the insurgent commander with his active group in the area," he told reporters.
'A wider conflict'
Thai police have linked last month's bombings in the upper south to people in the Deep South but have denied that those attacks signal an expansion of the separatist conflict, which has killed more than 6,000 people in the predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking border region since 2004.
However, a report issued this week by an NGO that studies conflicts worldwide and recommends solutions for them contradicted this assertion by Thailand's military government.
"[T]he scale of the August attacks, geographic reach and choice of targets mark a clear shift, and apparent decision to expand the conflict," the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG) said in its report, referring to the Aug. 11 and 12 attacks in tourist hotspots.
"The August bomb attacks in the upper south raise the specter of a wider conflict, with more attacks in tourist areas. That should prompt the NCPO to reconsider its approach of containing the insurgency and seeking militant capitulation rather than a comprehensive political solution," ICG added, referring to the junta by its official name, the National Council for Peace and Order.
The report also cast doubt on the junta's efforts to open formal talks aimed at ending the conflict in the Deep South.
Earlier this month in Kuala Lumpur, government officials and southern rebel groups led by MARA Patani agreed to discuss a limited ceasefire at future meetings.
"The peace dialogue between Thailand's military government and some Malay-Muslim separatist leaders in exile has foundered. Coordinated bombings in August on tourist areas outside the customary conflict zone in the deep south bear the hallmarks of the separatists and indicate that the government's approach of containing the insurgency is not working," according to International Crisis Group.
"The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), which seized power in the 2014 coup, professes to support dialogue to end the insurgency but avoids commitment, and the prime minister has questioned the talks. The main insurgent group has rejected the process, and the number of fighters the umbrella entity set up to negotiate in 2015 controls is unknown," the report added.


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BENARNEWS- Amnesty International (AI) on Wednesday canceled a Bangkok news conference where it was to unveil a report about torture carried out by Thailand's military, after Thai officials threatened legal action against its representatives, a lawyer for the rights watchdog said.
The official release of the report that documents 74 cases of alleged torture under Thailand's two-year-old junta was disrupted because officials from the Ministry of Labor came to conference venue and warned the human rights group that its panelists could be arrested for lacking work permits, AI legal counsel Yuval Ginbar told reporters.
"I am personally based in London. I have a business visa for the whole year. I'm allowed to be [here] until December for the purpose of business. Human rights is [the focus of] my business and they know that. I don't see why I shouldn't do my business here," said Ginbar, who was scheduled to appear on the panel. He spoke at a Bangkok hotel where the report's launch was to have taken place.
"The authorities said to us that ... if any representatives from Amnesty International spoke at the event they would be in violation of Thailand's labor laws," Agence France-Presse quoted him as saying.
'Actions speak louder than words'
Amnesty's report, titled "'Make Him Speak by Tomorrow': Torture and Other Ill-Treatment in Thailand," details allegations of torture carried out by the military against suspected separatist insurgents from the country's Deep South as well as suspected drug users, members of ethnic minorities, migrants and others.
According to the report that documents allegations of beatings of prisoners, suffocation with plastic bags, water boarding, electric shocks of the genitals and other forms of torture, such abuses have increased since the military toppled a civilian-led government in May 2014.
"Thailand may claim to be tough on torture, but actions speak louder than words. Empowered by laws of their own making, Thailand's military rulers have allowed a culture of torture to flourish, where there is no accountability for the perpetrators and no justice for the victims," Rafendi Djamin, AI's director for South East Asia and the Pacific, said in a statement issued earlier on Wednesday.
Since seizing power the National Council of Peace and Order (NCPO) – the formal name for the junta – has drawn international criticism for clamping down on human rights by arresting people under Thailand's strict royal defamation law and, among others, activists who have spoken out against a controversial draft charter being pushed by the military.
Earlier this month, as Thailand prepared to undergo a periodic review of its climate for rights before the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, the junta announced that it would not prosecute new cases of civilians being tried before military courts on charges related to national security.
The cancellation of Wednesday's news conference in Bangkok "raises serious questions about the ability of international organizations to stage public events in Thailand," said Laurent Meillan, the acting regional representative for the U.N. Human Rights Office for Southeast Asia, according to the Associated Press.
"This incident is another striking illustration of a new pattern of harassment of human rights defenders documenting torture in Thailand," Meillan told AP.
'Within the legal framework'
NCPO spokesman Col. Piyapong Klinpan said he was not aware of Wednesday's cancellation.
"Based on the factual information since the NPCO took over the power to administer the country, the NCPO has been cautious in using power in every aspect," he told BenarNews, saying that the regime had to impose martial law early on to maintain order.
"[A]fter the situation got better, we eased all enforcement," he said, adding, "To do anything outside of legal framework, we cannot do so. Every single official exercises their power within legal framework."


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BENARNEWS- Thailand on Friday became the first Southeast Asian country to link cases of Zika infection with birth defects, with Thai health officials confirming that exposure to the virus caused two babies to be born with microcephaly – abnormally small heads.
"Based on lab results, the technical committee concluded unanimously that the infants' microcephaly was caused by the Zika virus in the mothers," Dr. Prasert Thongcharoen, who chairs an advisory committee at the Thai Department of Disease Control, told a news conference in Bangkok.
The confirmation by Thailand signified the first cases reported in Southeast Asia of birth defects linked to the mosquito-borne virus, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
"If found to be linked, these would be the first identified cases of Zika-associated microcephaly in Southeast Asia. If Zika is identified, viral sequencing would be necessary to determine the strain of the virus to determine whether it is a local or imported strain," WHO's Regional Office for South-East Asia, based in New Delhi, said a day before Thai officials announced the results of investigations into four possible cases establishing a link between Zika-infected mothers and babies exposed to the virus while in utero.
"Zika virus infection is a serious threat to the health and wellbeing of a pregnant woman and her unborn child. Countries across the [r]egion must continue to strengthen measures aimed at preventing, detecting and responding to Zika virus transmission," Dr. Poonam Khetrapal Singh, the U.N. health agency's regional director, said Friday in a statement that followed the Thai announcement.
"WHO also urges pregnant women as well as the rest of the general public to take precautions to limit mosquito-human contact, including wearing long-sleeved, light colored clothing; using mosquito repellant; sleeping under a bed net; and fitting windows and doors with screens wherever possible," Singh added.
According to Dr. Prasert, of the four Thai mothers who were infected with Zika while pregnant, two gave birth to babies with microcephaly and a third woman gave birth to an infant with a small head, but health officials were investigating whether Zika caused this last case of a natal deformity.
Health officials are monitoring a fourth potential case, that of a pregnant woman infected with Zika who has yet to give birth, Prasert told reporters.
Thai officials urged the public to remain calm.
"[T]he message has to be delivered that this virus is not dangerous to everyone, only to pregnant women. And, if infected, we know that only one out of five [babies] may have microcephaly – not for every case," Dr. Porntep Siriwanarangsun, chairman of the Preventative Medicine Association of Thailand, who also sits on the committee, told the news conference.
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CDC issues travel, sex advisories
So far, no cases of microcephaly caused by Zika have been reported in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia and Malaysia, according to health officials in those countries. But a handful of cases of Zika infection have been reported in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, following a spike in cases reported in Singapore.
Late last month, the city-state reported that the number of Zika cases had shot up from one to 115 in the span of five days. According to Bangladesh's health minister, 19 cases have been reported of Bangladeshis being infected in Singapore.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued an alert on Thursday advising pregnant women to postpone non-essential plans to travel to 11 countries in Southeast Asia, including Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia,  where they could be exposed to Zika.
On Friday, the CDC followed this up by advising men who live in or have traveled to areas where the virus is active – but who have shown no symptoms of infection – to wait at least six months before having sex after possible exposure to Zika. The CDC had originally advised men to abstain from sex for at least eight weeks after possible exposure.
Zika is spread mostly through the bite of an infected Aedes mosquito. The virus can be spread from a pregnant woman to her fetus and can cause birth defects.
A mosquito can become a carrier after biting an infected person, then biting healthy people. An infected person can also pass Zika to his or her sex partner, according to the CDC.
"As has been advocated all along, expecting mothers must protect themselves from Aedes bites. Communities must make their environment Aedes-free," Dr. Lokman Hakim Sulaiman, Malaysia's deputy director-general of health (public health), told BenarNews.
Melati A. Jalil in Kuala Lumpur and Kamran Reza Chowdhury in Dhaka contributed to this report.


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BENARNEWS- A former student leader of Hong Kong's 2014 pro-democracy movement has been denied entry to Thailand in a move by the Bangkok military junta that is widely believed to be at the request of Beijing.

Joshua Wong, 19, who has since co-founded the pro-democracy party Demosisto, was detained on arrival at Bangkok's international airport en route to speak at two universities about the Occupy Central movement.

He was denied entry and escorted onto a plane back to Hong Kong, he told reporters on arrival after writing that he was "illegally detained" on his Facebook page.

"Chulalongkorn University in Thailand invited me ... originally I should have given a speech [there]," Wong said after arriving at Hong Kong's International Airport.

"Yesterday, around 1 a.m. Hong Kong time, I arrived at Bangkok airport, and the immigration department and police ... maybe 20 ... came and held my passport immediately," he said.

"They sent me into one of the police stations at Bangkok airport, and they forced me to stay inside the police station, to stay imprisoned for totally 12 hours," he said.

Immigration officers had refused to give any explanation for Wong's detention, saying only that he had been "blacklisted," he said.

Wong said he had been denied permission to contact a lawyer, and to inform his family of his safe arrival.

He said he was "totally disappointed" with the experience.

"It was totally out of my expectations to have this kind of suppression from the Thai government," he said.
National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) spokesman Col. Piyapong Klinpan said the NCPO, also known as the junta, decided to bar Joshua Wong over security concerns and the relationship with China.
"In this regard the NCPO takes a look from the perspective of security and relationship with a friendly country. We need to be careful of what Joshua Wong will say. We have to be watchful for a friendly country, which is China. To let (Joshua) move in Thailand is no good. It will not be good to let anyone cause hard feelings with a friendly country," he told Benar News by phone.
"We don't know what he is going to talk about and whether his speech supports or damages (national) security ... we asked him to go back. We did not violate his rights but (we) facilitated him going back," he said.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha said attempts to exploit the 40th anniversary against the junta would not be allowed to grow.
"The media know that there is intention to exploit the incident of Oct. 6, 1976. Why are you (indirectly) helping magnifying that intention? You know what they (anti-junta movements) are doing," he told reporters.
China requested 'cooperation'
Wong's invitation came from Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Political Science, who asked him to address students on the 40th anniversary of a bloody crackdown by the Thai army on student protesters.
"As a representative of politics students at Chulalongkorn University and the host of the event '40 years after October 6,' we would like to clarify about Joshua Wong's trip to Thailand to give a talk on 'new generation's politics' which is hosted by the faculty of political science," student Netiwit Chotiphatpahisal told reporters.
"We would like to state that our event is an academic event, not a political protest. Also, the purpose of our event is to inform new generations about the Oct. 6 event that happened in 1976, not to violently encourage people to protest or trigger any violence."

Dozens of politicians and activists demonstrated outside the Thai consulate in Hong Kong on Wednesday in protest at Wong's treatment, but were prevented from entering the building to speak to consular officials.

Pan-democratic lawmaker and veteran social activist Leung Kwok-hung said many are angry at the Hong Kong government for apparently failing to intervene to help Wong.

"Did they even speak to the Thai government about this?" Leung said. "Can't they even cope with the Thai government?"

Former Occupy Central leader Nathan Law, who was recently elected to the Legislative Council (LegCo) for Demosisto, said that about 30 LegCo members had issued a statement protesting Wong's detention.

"Joshua Wong didn't break any Thai laws; he was detained by the Thai government for no reason after being invited to take part in a university exchange event," Law told journalists.

"He was also denied any contact with the outside world."
Political factors
He hit out at the Thai government's treatment of a Hong Kong resident with a valid tourist visa.

Hong Kong secretary for security Rimsky Yuen, however, said countries have the right to regulate their own borders, "according to actual circumstances or for various reasons."

He said he didn't believe that Wong's denial of entry was linked to state-to-state pressure, but was linked to the Thai government's own "management" of people entering the country on tourist visas.

Richard Choi, deputy chairman of the Alliance in Support of the Patriotic Democratic Movement in China, disagreed, however.

"Joshua Wong had legitimate and lawful reasons to travel to Thailand," Choi told BenarNews sister entity Radio Free Asia.

"Given that the Thai government had no good reason ... to refuse him entry ... it looks as if political factors were involved in this situation," he said.

"All countries have the right to prevent anyone from crossing their borders, but that doesn't make it right," Choi added.

Maya Wang, China researcher for the New York-based Human Rights Watch, also said Wong's detention was the result of political factors.

"A number of unrelated incidents have shown us that the Thai government is increasingly willing to do the Chinese government's dirty work for it, by repatriating [Chinese] rights activists there, and by denying entry to other rights activists," Wang said.

"It is a cause for concern that they are increasingly under Beijing's influence and pressure," she said.

Thailand's repatriation history
Thailand has responded to a number of requests from Beijing to repatriate rights activists and dissidents, some of whom had already been granted political refugee status by the United Nations and were awaiting resettlement in a third country.

China on Wednesday declined to clarify its role in Wong's detention, with a foreign ministry official saying only that the ministry had "taken note of the relevant reports," Reuters reported.

Wong became the student icon of the 79-day civil disobedience campaign for fully democratic elections in Hong Kong, a movement which rejected Beijing's insistence that any move to universal suffrage in the city must include the vetting of candidates by its supporters.

Crowds of protesters occupied the city's streets in protest at the plan, using umbrellas to protect themselves from sun, rain, and pepper spray, and giving the Umbrella Movement its nickname.

But the movement ended with no political victory, and amid accusations from the ruling Chinese Communist Party that the protests were being orchestrated by "hostile foreign forces" behind the scenes.

In August, a Hong Kong district court sentenced Wong to 80 hours of community service on a charge of unlawful assembly.

The Hong Kong government later requested a jail sentence for Wong and two fellow activists.
Nontarat Phaicharoen in Bangkok contributed to this report.


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BENARNEWS- Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha has appointed a special government delegation for his country's Deep South, which met Thursday for the first time in Bangkok and will report directly to the junta chief on matters pertaining to the strife-torn region.
Prayuth earlier this week announced the formation of a 13-member special delegation for the Deep South, or so-called "forward government." Consisting mostly of former military, police and civilians who are familiar with the region, the delegation would act as a bridge between the region's administration, the regional military command and Prayuth's cabinet in Bangkok, according to officials.
The new panel, headed by Deputy Defense Minister Gen. Udomdej Sitabutr, will also take over some duties of the National Security Council (NSC) in an effort to curb violence in the Deep South, Udomdej told reporters in Bangkok on Thursday.
More than 6,000 people have been killed during the past 12 years in violence associated with a separatist insurgency in Thailand's predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking southern border region. Since last year, the military government in Bangkok has tried to re-open formal peace talks with rebel groups through a series of informal meetings facilitated by Malaysia.
The new delegation met for the first time on Thursday to discuss the scope of its authority, Udomdej said. It will be based at Fort Suriyothai, a military base in Pattani, one of the provinces in the Deep South.
"The new body is assigned to oversee (the ISOC Region 4 in the Deep South and Southern Border Province Administration Center) to the best effect," Udomdej told reporters at the Defense Ministry, referring to the region's internal security operations command branch and an agency that administers the Deep South.
"Whatever they have done well, we will bolster. Whatever jobs are going at a slow pace, we will see what glitches they have and we will fix them," he added.
Udomdej said he would report back to Prayuth and to Deputy Prime Minister Gen. Prawit Wongsuwan.
The delegation includes four ex-army commanders in the 4th Army Region, which covers the Deep South, Deputy Education Minister Surachet Chaiwong and Gen. Aksara Kerdpol, who heads the Thai delegation in peace negotiations with southern rebels, the Bangkok Post reported.
Air Vice Marshal Rungsan Yaowarat, deputy spokesman for the Ministry of Defense, said the government had approved 12.5 billion baht (U.S. $358 million) for peace efforts in the Deep South in fiscal year 2017, which began Oct. 1.
Mixed reactions
With a population of 1.7 million people, the Thai Deep South encompasses Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat provinces and four districts of Songkhla province.
Following a military coup in May 2014 that toppled a civilian-led government and installed a junta – formally known as the National Council of Peace and Order (NCPO) –  Barisan Revolusi  Nasional (BRN), the Patani United Liberation Organization (PULO) and other insurgent groups set up an umbrella group called MARA Patani to negotiate with the new regime in an effort to re-open peace talks for the first time since they stalled in December 2013.
In September, both sides agreed to discuss a limited ceasefire at future meetings.
Commentators and observers of the Deep South expressed a range of views about the formation of the new special delegation.
"The establishment of the forward government to coordinate field units in Deep South with the prime minister will fix the slow chain of command," a security official in Pattani told BenarNews om condition of anonymity.
Madari Tohlala, a resident of Narathiwat, said the appointment of Udomdej as the delegation's chairman gave him hope that things might get better in the violence-wracked region.
"The chief of the forward government is straight-forward and thoughtful. I think this body is interesting and will improve the situation," he told BenarNews, adding that locals would also welcome at least two other members of the delegation, whom they view favorably.
But a former Thai parliamentarian suggested that the delegation lacks diversity and is limited in scope.
"Its short-coming is a lack of representatives from the  private sector, either Buddhist or Muslims," Najnudin Uma, who served as an MP under deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, told Benar News.
"These people know the circumstances of violence well and they should be invited as advisers or as part of a special committee," he said.


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BENARNEWS- Thais on Monday were praying for the recovery of King Bhumibol Adulyadej following an announcement from the royal palace that his frail health had taken a bad turn and his condition was "unstable."
Thailand's stock market reacted negatively to the news by taking a 3.15 percent hit on Monday, with the Thai baht declining to a two-month low of 35.08 against the U.S. dollar, according to media reports.
On Sunday the Bureau of the Royal Household issued a statement announcing that the condition of the world's longest-reigning living monarch had deteriorated following a medical procedure the day before to purify the 88-year-old Bhumibol's blood and change a tube for draining excess cerebrospinal fluid.
"The medical team closely monitors the condition and provides him with treatment because the overall condition is unstable," the statement said.
Sunday's announcement was highly unusual because it was the first time in many months that the bureau that manages Thailand's royal affairs did not speak positively about the king's health following a medical procedure.
The king, who has been in frail health for the past few years, has not been seen in public for almost a year and a series of recent medical procedures on him in recent months have left Thais on tenterhooks. In June, Thailand celebrated the 70th anniversary of Bhumibol's accession to the throne.
"May the King recover as soon as possible. I offer all my good deeds to the King and I wish [that] all illness and dangers will be eliminated from him and the royal family. Long live the King," Thai citizen Kotchamon Janthanakeeri said Monday in a message posted on her Facebook page dedicated to Princess Chulaporn, the youngest of Bhumibol's four children.
Nervous market
The statement from the Bureau of the Royal Household said the king was admitted to Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok on Saturday for a long-term haemodialysis to purify his blood.
"[On Saturday] the medical team asked for royal permission to unclog a vein in preparation for long-term haemodialysis and changed the apparatus related to the spinal cord, between 14:00 to 16:40 hours," the statement said.
"The King's blood pressure turned low occasionally, so that the medical team provided him with medicines and a ventilator to help [his] breathing to keep blood pressure normal. Until 03:00 hours on Sunday, the pulse became quicker," the statement added.
The statement noted that an echocardiograph showed less blood flowing to the left atrium due high blood pressure in the lungs. The king's doctors treated him with drugs until 3 p.m. Sunday, when his pulse and blood pressure improved, it said.
The bureau did not issue any updates on Monday.
The king's health is a sensitive topic in Thailand, where many Thais are nervous about talking about it because of the country's strict laws against royal defamation. The so-called Lese-Majeste law makes it a crime to defame, insult or threaten the king, queen, heir to the throne or regent.
On Monday, the Thai stock exchange responded nervously and closed out the day of trading by falling 47.32 points, equal to a loss of 3.15 percent in volume.
"The index plunged for some 50 points is due to domestic factor but I would not want investors to get panicky," Padol Wanarat, director of the analysis section of Maybank Kim Eng Securities, told local media.
"There is only one factor that sent to index sinking on Monday," a Thai stock analyst who asked not to be identified told BenarNews, referring to the ailing king.


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BENARNEWS- Thai authorities said Tuesday they had detained 10 people as part of security sweeps in and around Bangkok, following a warning from the government that it had obtained intelligence about potential bomb plots against the greater metropolitan area at the end of October.
Police seized 400 guns and a stash of drugs while arresting the 10 during raids in three districts in Bangkok and neighboring Samut Prakarn province, officials said, but they could not confirm whether the suspects were connected to an intelligence report publicized on Monday about car-bomb plots targeting the region from Oct. 25 to 30.
Authorities said police and security forces on Tuesday combed the greater Bangkok area and nearby provinces, including Bangkok International Airport and popular spots such as shopping malls, to safeguard the region in the aftermath of the warning.
"We have to take care of the whole metropolitan area," Maj. Gen. Songpol Wattanachai, deputy spokesman for the Royal Thai Police, told BenarNews.
On Tuesday, a member of a southern Thai rebel group in Pattani province told BenarNews that it was incapable of mounting any bomb attacks in the greater Bangkok area.
"The Bangkok capital is not a target," the source said on condition of anonymity. "Our group doesn't have that capacity."
Bangkok last year was targeted in a bomb attack that killed 20 people and injured more than 125 others at the Erawan Shrine, a Hindu monument popular with tourists. In August, a string of bombings killed four people and injured dozens more at tourist hotspots across southern Thailand.
Thai police have linked last month's bombings in the upper south to people in Thailand's insurgency-wracked Deep South, but have denied that those attacks signaled an expansion of the separatist conflict. More than 6,000 people have been killed in the conflict in the predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking border region since 2004.
'Let the authorities do their jobs': PM
Bangkok Metropolitan Police Deputy Police Chief Gen. Srivara Ransibrahmanakul met on Monday with the Australian ambassador and an Australian counter-terror official, which led to information being publicized about the potential bomb plots, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
Srivara said security services had received orders to monitor people in the Deep South, because the end of October marked anniversaries related to the insurgency, according to AP.
On Monday, a police memo circulated to reporters warned of potential attacks in late October targeting "areas such as malls, car parks and tourist attractions," Agence France-Presse reported.
ABC News of Australia reported the memo said that an armed group was plotting as many as three car-bomb attacks, and one of the main targets was the international airport. Other targets named were Bhumibol Bridge and the Ancient Siam open-air museum, the Australian network reported.
Meanwhile on Tuesday, Thai junta chief and Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha urged the public to remain calm despite the warning about the alleged terror plots.
"The [intelligence service] always gives warnings. Let the authorities do their jobs and be confident in them," Prayuth told reporters at Government House in Bangkok.
"The warning is part of the intelligence process. Wait until everything is clear," he said.
BenarNews staff in Pattani, Thailand, contributed to this report.


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BENARNEWS- Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej's health has not stabilized following a medical procedure four days ago, palace officials said late Wednesday, as devotees held vigil outside the hospital where he is being treated.
All four of the royal children – Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn and princesses Sirindhorn, Chulabhorn and Ubolratana – visited the 88-year-old Bhumibol at the Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok in the afternoon and evening, hospital staff confirmed to BenarNews.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha cancelled meetings scheduled in Chonburi province and returned to Bangkok to meet with the crown prince, who flew home from Germany earlier in the day, according to reports.
Junta spokesman Lt. Gen. Sansern Kaewkamnerd described the meeting with the prince, who often travels abroad, as a routine briefing.
"The prime minister cancelled his tasks in Chonburi in preparation to have an audience with Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn to report on the administrative progress, as he [the prince] wished. It is a regular basis report," Sansern told reporters in Bangkok.
Wednesday's statement from the Royal Household Bureau, the office that manages palace affairs, was the second issued since Sunday that described the king's condition as unstable.
"The general condition is not stable and needs to be controlled with medication. The medical-doctor team is closely monitoring [his] condition and treatment," it said.
"The physicians reported that since Oct. 11, the King had low blood pressure, a quickened pulse and more acidic blood. The blood test showed blood infection and liver dysfunction," the statement said.
On Saturday, the king's medical team initiated hemodialysis and changed a tube that drains excess cerebrospinal fluid, a statement announced the following day. Hemodialysis is a treatment for kidney failure.
Bhumibol, who earlier this year marked the 70th anniversary of his accession to the throne, has not been seen in public for nearly a year, and his deteriorating health has led to multiple procedures and hospitalizations in recent years.
'I need to pray for him'
Several hundred of the king's supporters flocked to the hospital on Wednesday to pray for his recovery.
"I came here today because of my loyalty to the king, like many others. I heard the king is sick, so I rushed here. I need to pray for him to get well soon," Wanna, 60, a resident of Samut Sakorn province, told BenarNews.
Pacharajutha, 10, a student at La-or Unthit School in Bangkok, was among the well-wishers.
"My mother told me the king is in critical condition, so I came to pray for the king to recover soonest," Pacharajutha, who came with her mother, told BenarNews.
Thailand's currency and stock market dropped to multi-month lows Wednesday on concern over the king's health, according to The Wall Street Journal.
"Our bourse still looks risky because of negative news and bad news, and then we had panic sales," Nattawuth Rungwong, a Thai stock analyst, said on his personal Facebook page.


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BENARNEWS- Thailand on Thursday announced the death of its beloved King Bhumibol Adulyadej after a 70-year-reign, and the legislature said it would invite Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn to take his throne.
Moments after official news of the monarch's death broke, Prime Minister and junta leader Prayuth Chan-o-cha told the nation that the crown prince was expected to become Thailand's new king. Flags would fly at half-staff for 30 days and the country would observe a year-long period of mourning, he said.
"The government will inform the National Legislative Assembly that the King appointed the heir in accordance with the royal succession by-law on Dec. 28, 1972. The legislature will proceed accordingly," Prayuth told the nation in a televised broadcast late Thursday, referring to the day when Maha Vajiralongkorn, now 64, officially became crown prince.
The National Assembly convened for a special session at 9 p.m., during which members observed nine minutes of silence in memory of Bhumibol, 88, the world's longest-reigning monarch.
"The National Legislative Assembly, performing its duty in accordance with the interim Thai constitution, has acknowledged the death of the King with sadness, and the president of the legislative assembly in his capacity as house speaker will invite Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn to the throne," Assembly President Pornpet Wichitcholchai said in a statement issued by the Thai legislature after the extraordinary meeting, attended by 216 members of the 250-seat body.
After the lawmakers met, Prayuth told reporters at Government House that the royal succession might not take place immediately.
"The Crown Prince said he acknowledges that he is heir to the throne, but he wants to have a solemn moment to share his grief with all Thais. ... [T]he accession can be pushed off until an appropriate time," the prime minister said.
News of the king's death caused an outpouring of grief in Thailand. TV channels in the country, including international satellite networks – were ordered by the government to replace their regular programming with black-and-white monochrome footage featuring scenes from the king's life, Agence France-Presse reported.
Messages of sympathy poured in from abroad, with leaders from many countries paying tribute to the late Bhumibol. The United Nations General Assembly held a moment of silence in his memory.
"[H]is Majesty was a tireless champion of his country's development and demonstrated unflagging devotion to improving the standard of living of the Thai people," U.S. President Barack Obama said in leading the tributes, adding, Bhumibol "leaves a legacy of care for the Thai people that will be cherished by future generations."
Peaceful death
The king died of health-related complications at a hospital in Bangkok on Thursday afternoon, according to a statement from palace officials that was aired on national television at around 7 p.m.
"King Bhumibol has been admitted at Siriraj Hospital since Oct. 3, 2014, as the Royal Household Bureau has updated periodically," Thai TV Channel 5 announced in reading out a statement from the bureau that manages palace affairs, referring to a series of hospitalizations of the elderly king during the past two years.
"Regardless of the medical team's efforts, the sickness did not recede until at 15:52 hours on Oct. 13, 2016. The King has died peacefully at Siriraj Hospital," the statement said.
The king, who would have turned 89 on Dec. 5, had been in frail health and had not been seen in public for nearly a year. But his health deteriorated sharply in recent days. He was listed in "unstable" condition due to complications from a medical procedure undertaken on Saturday, the palace announced Sunday.
The king's medical team had initiated hemodialysis and changed a tube that drains excess cerebrospinal fluid, according to a statement the following day from the Royal Household Bureau. Hemodialysis is a treatment for kidney failure.
During the past few days Thais had been bracing for the worst following news of the latest bad turn in Bhumibol's health.
In June, Thais marked the 70th anniversary of Bhumibol's accession to the throne.
On Wednesday, the end appeared to be near. The crown prince flew home from Germany and met with Prayuth. The prince and the king's other three children – princesses Sirindhorn, Chulabhorn and Ubolratana – also visited their father at the hospital, staff at Siriraj Hospital told BenarNews.
After palace officials announced the news on Thursday night that the king had died, thousands of his supporters joined a large crowd outside the hospital that had been praying throughout the day for his recovery. Prayers and messages of support had also inundated social media channels in Thailand, according to news reports.
Outside the hospital many clutched portraits of the king. People burst out into sobs when the news they dreaded was finally announced.
"I came here to Siriraj to pray for his recovery but, as soon as I heard the announcement that he passed away, I felt as if I was struck. I don't know what to say," Saowanee Wetyungkul, a 41-year-old resident of Bangkok, told BenarNews.


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BENARNEWS- Messages of grief and sympathy poured in from world leaders and ordinary people following Thursday's announcement in Thailand that King Bhumibol Adulyadej had died of complications with his health after seven decades on the throne.
The United States, a longtime ally of Thailand, was among the first to react after palace officials in Bangkok broke the news.
American President Barack Obama called the Thai monarch a valued partner and expressed "heartfelt condolences to Her Majesty Queen Sirikit, her children and grandchildren, and the people of Thailand."
"As the revered leader and only monarch that most Thais have ever known, His Majesty was a tireless champion of his country's development and demonstrated unflagging devotion to improving the standard of living of the Thai people," the president said in a statement issued by the White House.
"His Majesty leaves a legacy of care for the Thai people that will be cherished by future generations," said Obama who called his 2012 visit with King Bhumibol an honor.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry issued a statement noting the late king's ties to the city in the Boston area where the monarch was born.
"His Majesty the King was one of America's most valued and trusted friends, and was the only monarch in history ever born in our country. The Bhumibol Adulyadej Square in the city of Cambridge, in my home state of Massachusetts, marks his birthplace and will remain an enduring memorial to the special bond he created between our peoples," Kerry said.
In New York, the U.N. General Assembly paused to observe a moment of silence in the king's memory.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon praised Bhumibol for his "long dedication to his country and his legacy as a unifying national leader."
"He was revered by the people of Thailand and highly respected internationally," the U.N. chief said.
'Close to the people'
Leaders from countries in South and Southeast Asia conveyed their sympathy to the people of Thailand as well.
"On behalf of the government and people of Indonesia I express my deep condolences over the death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej," Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo said.
"The world has lost a leader who was close to the people, a carrier of peace, unity and prosperity for the people of Thailand. The simplicity of King Bhumibol Adulyadej and his concern for the people should become a model for us," Jokowi said in a statement.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak praised King Bhumibol for his contribution to Southeast Asia.
"King Bhumibol was a towering presence whose contribution to Thailand, and the rest of the region, is beyond words. We join the Thai people in mourning his loss," Najib said in a statement.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted two tweets about the monarch.
"[The] people of India and I join the people of Thailand in grieving the loss of one of the tallest leaders of our times, King Bhumibol Adulyadej," Modi wrote. "King Bhumibol Adulyadej or Rama 9, was widely revered by his people. My thoughts are with his countless well-wishers & family."
The leader of the Himalayan nation of Bhutan posted a tribute on Facebook.
"His Majesty the Late King Bhumibol has been an exceptional leader, a comforting presence in the lives of every Thai citizen. His Majesty's enduring service for the welfare and wellbeing of his people will be remembered with honor and respect," Bhutanese King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck wrote.
Thais mourn
In Bangkok, thousands of mourners converged on Siriraj Hospital, where the king died in the afternoon, upon hearing the news.
Many toted portraits of the king and wept as they poured out their grief over the passing of their beloved king.
"I went to Siriraj today to learn of his condition more accurately because of many rumors. But he passed away, so I can only give the King my prayers," Bangkok resident Parichai Satasuk told BenarNews.
Razlan Rashid in Kuala Lumpur and Nurdin Hasan in Jakarta contributed to this report.


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BENARNEWS- The death of Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej after a 70-year reign and years of declining health has left the kingdom grappling with the reality that this bedrock figure of Thai society is finally gone.
The world's longest-reigning monarch passed away on Thursday of health-related complications at Siriraj Hospital, a facility overlooking the Chao Praya River where he had been treated on and off for years, palace officials said. He was 88.
"Very, very few Thais can remember a time without Bhumibol as king," Paul Handley, author of "The King Never Smiles: A Biography of Thailand's Bhumibol Adulyadej," told BenarNews.
"For many people he has been the one constant in a society that has changed very much, gone through some terrible convulsions, frequent coups by the military, rapid economic development and major setbacks."
Because of failing health the king seldom appeared in public in recent years. Yet he seemed to be omnipresent. Images of the bespectacled monarch could be seen everywhere.
"The King wholeheartedly dedicated his life to improving the livelihood and qualities of all classes of people," Kitti Tantivejjanond, a 63-year-old citizen, told BenarNews.
"I only wish that the next one acceding to the throne shall follow in his footsteps to take care of people and the nation in the same way that the King did," Kitti said before the king's death was announced.
Sudden ascension to the throne
The sudden, unexplained death of his older brother thrust Bhumibol onto the throne on June 9, 1946, at the age of 18.
He became Rama IX, the ninth ruler of the Chakri dynasty, the same day King Ananda Mahidol was found dead in his bed of a gunshot wound at the palace in Bangkok.
Until his own death, Bhumibol was the longest-living monarch, ahead of Queen Elizabeth II.
On many occasions during his reign, Bhumibol acted as a unifying figure who intervened to rescue Thailand's fragile constitutional democracy from political crises.
"Our nation belongs to all – not one or two," the king said in May 1992, when a post-coup power-play between two rival generals resulted in protests that turned deadly.
"If Bangkok is ruined, so is the entire nation," he added. "There is no use to be proud as a victor on top of the ruins of a nation."
'Baby Songkhla'
The youngest of three children, Bhumibol Adulyadej was born in Cambridge, Mass., on Dec. 5, 1927.
His father was Prince Mahidol of Songkhla.
Because his parents had yet to name him and were waiting for his uncle, Prajadhipok (Rama VII) to send them a name, Bhumibol's birth certificate identified the newborn as "Baby Songkhla."
Rama VII later sent them a telegram with the name Bhumibala Aduladeja, which was later changed to Bhumibol Adulyadej. Derived from Sanskrit, the name means "The Strength of the Land, Incomparable Power."
Bhumipol was the grandson of King Chulalongkorn (Rama V), considered one of Thailand's greatest kings for reforms that he instituted, including the abolition of slavery. Rama V made it his mission to modernize Thailand (Siam) and align it with Western standards.
Bhumipol's family lived in a modest apartment in the Boston area, while his father studied public health at Harvard University.
After graduating from Harvard in 1928, Prince Mahidol returned to Thailand with his family.
The prince became known back home as the "Father of Medical Science" for his efforts to improve Thailand's medical services. But Mahidol died of kidney failure in September 1929.
Bhumibol's mother, Princess Sangwan Mahidol, later moved the family to Switzerland. In 1933, she and the children settled in a small apartment in Lausanne.
The princess, in fact, was a commoner who wanted to raise her children under normal conditions.
Bhumibol would stay in Switzerland for the rest of his childhood and education.
Coronation
In 1932, a revolt by the People's Assembly in Thailand led by members of the elite and military ended absolute monarchy and brought about a constitutional democracy.
The kingdom did not become a republic, and although King Prajadhipok abdicated from the throne two years later, the monarchy was kept intact.
After his abdication, the Thai parliament agreed to invite Prince Ananda, Prince Bhumibol's older brother, to the throne following the Law of Succession.
Prince Ananda became king (Rama VIII) at age 9, but stayed with his family in Switzerland. In his absence, royal regents were appointed to run the kingdom until he matured.
The young king returned to Thailand in December 1945.
On June 9, 1946, King Ananda, 20, was found dead at Boromphiman Pavilion with a gunshot wound to the head. The circumstances around his death still are a mystery today. It is unknown whether the young king took his own life, or was assassinated or shot by accident, according to reports.
Prince Bhumibol acceded to the throne but returned to Switzerland two months later to study political science and law at Lausanne University in preparation for his new role as king.
It was in Switzerland where he met his future queen, Sirikit Kitiyakara, the daughter of Prince Chandaburi Suranath, the Royal Siamese ambassador to France.
They were engaged on July 19, 1949, and wed on April 28, 1950. They would have four children: Princess Ubol Ratana; Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn; Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn; and Princess Chulabhorn.
One week after their wedding, the king was crowned officially in Bangkok on May 5, 1950.
Leadership amid turmoil
But since constitutional democracy came about in 1932, at least 19 separate coups have shaken Thailand, according to a report in The Atlantic magazine.
Bhumibol was seen "as a stabilizing influence" that held the kingdom together through many coups and 17 different constitutions, according to BBC News.
The king intervened at least three times when the country was plunged in political chaos – in 1973, 1981 and 1992.
The first time was when soldiers fired on pro-democracy demonstrators in '73. Eight years later, he stood up to a group of army officers who had staged a coup against the prime minister, BBC News reported.
He, however, did not intervene during a crisis in 2006 that led to the ouster of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The king was asked to step in but said it would be "inappropriate" to do so, according to the BBC.
The king, nonetheless, was praised for holding the country together while communist insurgencies swept across Indochina and threatened to take root in Thailand in the 1970s.
The king and the queen then visited points north to south, trekking or camping out as they gave moral support to soldiers and other people.
Rain-maker
In his lifetime the king accumulated immense wealth (in 2011, Forbes magazine estimated Bhumibol's fortune to be upward of U.S. $30 billion), but he was a monarch who did much to help his people. He started more than 4,000 development projects nationwide.
Those projects cut across agricultural sectors and promoted irrigation, and drought and flood alleviation. They also boosted public health, opportunities for distance learning and jobs. These helped improve the livelihoods of Thais and hill tribes in the country.
The king was even a rain-maker. He was behind a successful scheme to bring artificial rain to help farmers with their crops in drier parts of the country.
The method developed by the king – by which airplanes seeded clouds with rain-inducing chemicals – became patented.
He began experimenting with the method in 1969, based on tests conducted decades earlier by General Electric. The proven technique helped parts of Thailand recover from severe drought in 1999.
Leaders of arid countries came to him to inquire about his recipe for rain.
Jazzman
In public, the king may have cut a dour figure, with his subjects having to crawl or kneel before Bhumibol as they approached him. But there was a lighter side to him.
The king was an avid photographer and lover of music. A jazz aficionado, he was a noted saxophone player and composer.
Bhumibol jammed with the likes of Benny Goodman, Stan Getz and other legends. And, late into his 70s, he held regular jam sessions with his own band at his palace.
He composed dozens of his own pieces.
One of them was called "Falling Rain."
He was inspired to compose it while listening to the radio one day, Bhumibol said in a 1981 speech, according to the Associated Press.
"I felt the music in my head sounded better, so I turned off the radio and scribbled it down on a piece of paper," he said.
"People liked that song. They said it was beautiful. I felt overjoyed."


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BENARNEWS- Tens of thousands of people clad in black lined Bangkok streets on Friday to glimpse a van carrying the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, as Thailand officially began a year of mourning for the monarch who reigned for 70 years.
Queen Sirikit and Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn accompanied the king's body in a royal motorcade from the hospital where he had died the day before to the Grand Palace, where Bhumibol will lie before his cremation and state funeral at a yet to be determined date, palace officials said.
After reaching the palace the king's only son – his successor – presided over the bathing of the Bhumibol's body, a Buddhist funereal ritual, as monks chanted prayers, according to a statement from the Bureau of the Royal Household. Similar ceremonies are to be held at the palace and across predominantly Buddhist Thailand for 100 days.
People also voiced grief in Thailand's Muslim dominated Deep South for the king's death on Thursday from health-related complications at age 88.
"Muslim Thais are very sad. It is such a great loss. Muslim Thais wholeheartedly respected the king," JaeIsma-ae Jehkumudu, an Islamic teacher from the southern border region where a separatist insurgency against Bangkok has raged for decades, told BenarNews.
"When Muslims go to the funeral of friends of different religious faiths, they will show respect in a plain and humble way of dressing but will not dress in black," he said.
The Thai government the night before had announced that the country would observe a year-long period of mourning for the king, and had asked Thais to wear black clothing during that time.
And for a second straight day on Friday, Thai authorities interrupted regular television programming on channels including BBC and CNN, using their signals to air non-stop programming about the king's life, Agence-France Presse reported.
Facebook turned off its advertising in Thailand following the announcement of the king's death, saying that removing online ads was a "cultural custom" during the mourning period, according to a report by CNN.
On Friday, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called on Thailand to lift a blanket order censoring TV news broadcasts in the wake of the king's death. Local media outlets have also been barred from using social media live during an indefinite period, CPJ noted in a statement.
"While CPJ sympathizes with the Thai people over the passing of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, we lament that the government has resorted to crude censorship at this sensitive time," said Steven Butler, CPJ's Asia program coordinator. "We urge military authorities to follow through on their promise to lift the ban and allow all journalists to report on this important story without threat or harassment."
'He was the love of all Thais'
Meanwhile at Friday prayers, Thai Muslims were instructed by the Office of the Sheikhul Islam – which represents Thailand's Islamic community – to read out messages of condolence and express their gratitude to the king, an official with the organization told BenarNews.
On Friday night in Narathiwat, one of the provinces in the Deep South, children and others lit candles and prayed for the soul of the late King.
Government offices were closed on Friday, out of respect to the king, but businesses stayed open, according to reports.
People in the crowd that thronged the streets of the capital burst into tears as the van in the motorcade passed by on its way to the palace.
"I wanted to send off his majesty," Nateimon Chitrakon, 39, told the Associated Press. "He was the love of all Thais."
Prince Vajiralongkorn, 64, has been named as the king's successor but, following the official announcement of Bhumibol's death on Thursday night, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha, told reporters in Bangkok that the royal succession might not happen immediately, because the crown prince wanted "to have a solemn moment to share his grief with all Thais."
Prayuth traveled to the Grand Palace on Friday to pay his respects to the king.
In a televised speech to the nation the night before, Prayuth announced that the country would mourn the loss of their king over the next year.
"Now, the 70-year reign of His Majesty King Bhumibol the Great has ended. As the benevolence of His Majesty the King for the Thai people has been immeasurable, our profound sorrow and bereavement on this loss shall also be immeasurable," Prayuth said, according to an official transcript of his statement released by the prime minister's office on Friday.


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BENARNEWS- The coronation of Thailand's new king will take place in a year at the earliest after a national period of mourning for King Bhumibol Adulyadej ends, according to a deputy prime minister in charge of legal matters.
Meanwhile since his death on Thursday, three Thai citizens have been arrested for alleged defamation of the monarchy under Thailand's strict royal defamation law, and the military-controlled government has selectively blocked some foreign news outlets over coverage of the post-Bhumibol transition, local media reported.
The death last week of 88-year-old Bhumibol has temporarily left Thailand without a king for the first time in 70 years, and his appointed successor, Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, has said he will hold off on taking the throne for the time being so he can grieve alongside the Thai people, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha told the nation within hours of the king's death.
However, at any time during the next year that will culminate in Bhumibol's cremation and state funeral, the 64-year-old prince can accept an invitation from Thailand's National Assembly, which would automatically make him the new king, according to sections of a draft constitution that pertain to the royal succession.
On the night of the king's death on Thursday, the assembly invited Vajiralongkorn to take the throne, but the prime minister later said that the prince was delaying his decision for now.
"The Crown Prince said everyone as well as him is sad and in mourning so that we all together help each other get past this grief. Do not make us feel the change is so abrupt. All should remember the beautiful memory of the late king's 70 years of reign," Prayuth said Friday after the prince had granted him a royal audience.
"After the funeral moves on to a certain point, there will be appropriate time to proceed with the official announcement of the new king," Prayuth said, according to local reports.
Joining the prince during his audience with Prayuth was Prem Tinsulanonda, a 96-year-old former general and chairman of the Privy Council, who on Friday night was appointed as temporary regent until the day when the prince decides to ascend to the throne, according to section 22 of the draft constitution. Prem's position as head of the Privy Council made him the late monarch's closest adviser and gatekeeper, according to Agence France-Presse.
Over the weekend, Deputy Prime Minister for Legal Affairs Wissanu Kreau-ngam indicated that the coronation of the tenth monarch in the Chakri dynasty would take place only after the completion of funereal rites spread over a year's time.
"Roughly we have funeral rites for at least a year, which is in line with the government's announcement of a mourning period. Then we will talk about the royal cremation and coronation," Wissanu told reporters, according to Thai media.
Made to kneel
On Monday, the prince – the king's only son – joined princesses Sirindhorn and Chulabhorn and nieces of Bhumibol in offering alms and food to monks who have been chanting in the presence of the late king since his body was moved from the hospital where he died to the Grand Palace on Friday.
The king's death after a long series of health-related ailments has plunged Thailand into a display of mass grieving that has not been seen for many years. Since Friday, Thais have been wearing black in accordance with a government order, and tens of thousands of mourners have been converging of the Grand Palace to pay their respects to and leave condolence messages for the king and his family.
However, some tensions have also arisen in the wake of the king's death. Three people have been arrested separately for allegedly posting comments on social media that were deemed critical of the monarchy. Since a junta seized power in May 2014 scores of people have been arrested under Thailand's Lese-Majeste law, where they face the prospect of being jailed for up to 15 years if charged and found guilty of defaming the monarchy.
One of the three new cases involved a woman from Surat Thani province, identified as Umaporn, and who was arrested for allegedly insulting the monarchy on her Facebook page.
After her arrest on Saturday, she was made to kneel in public before a portrait of King Bhumibol and issue an apology as a crowd of several hundred royalists jeered the woman, according to reports.
In addition, the government has censured foreign news outlets, including BBC News and the British tabloid Daily Mail for their coverage of Thailand since Bhumibol died.
"It has been found that some big foreign media have been reporting erroneous or false information and accusations that are of a manipulative and provocative nature. This is highly inappropriate, especially during this period of national mourning. Such practices are not only unethical but also unprofessional, insensitive to the feelings of the Thai people and offensive toward Thai cultural traditions," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Friday.
Jonathan Head, a Bangkok-based BBC correspondent, said the broadcaster's transmissions into the country had occasionally been blocked by the government in the days since the king's death.
"Whenever reporting on Thailand comes up our transmissions are blocked," Head told Khaosod, a Thai news publication.


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BENARNEWS- The death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej will not affect the junta's plans to hold elections in Thailand in September or October 2017, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha indicated on Tuesday.
Prayuth touched on the issue as he spoke to reporters following the cabinet's first regular scheduled weekly meeting after the king's death on Oct. 13. Thailand has since begun a year of national mourning for Bhumibol, who had ruled over Thailand for 70 years.
Before his death, the junta headed by Prayuth had declared that general elections could be held next year and those elected could assume power by December 2017, a plan referred to as a part of the military government so-called "roadmap" for returning Thailand to democracy.
"Nothing has changed," Prayuth said Tuesday, according to Reuters. "The policies of this government, the laws – including elections – will be according to the roadmap. Don't ask me when or how it will occur, the roadmap is the roadmap."
"The country cannot stop, we need to help each other, supporting the work of the government and moving forward," added Prayuth, the retired army general who led a coup that toppled a civilian-led government in May 2014. "I ask for collaboration ... be patient, think the nation first. So any policy of the government, including the laws and election, will proceed."
While speaking to reporters the prime minister also addressed the issue of the royal succession.
On the night of the king's death, Thai lawmakers invited Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn to take the throne, as is stipulated according to the laws of royal succession, but the prince delayed that action so he could grieve along with the Thai people, the prime minister told the nation on Thursday.
On Friday night, Prem Tinsulanonda, a 96-year-old former general who chairs the Privy Council, was appointed as the nation's temporary regent and will serve in that role until the day when the prince ascends the throne.
"About the succession, do not worry, everybody. I've already said twice that it is clearly stated in the constitution, the Palace Law of Succession and also there is its tradition, therefore, all in country and abroad should not worry or not have any concerns," Prayuth told reporters Tuesday.
He said a new king could take the throne after 15 days of mourning, according to Reuters.
Pursuing critics of monarchy
On Tuesday, Thais were still pouring out their grief for the passing of their king after seven decades on the throne. Apart from not having a king ruling them for the first time since 1946, Thais have not elected a prime minister since the military overthrew the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra two years ago.
Meanwhile, the government continued to go after on people suspected of violating Lese-Majeste, the country's strict royal defamation law.
Justice Minister Paiboon Koomchaya told reporters that the government was tracking six high-profile suspects living abroad, but conceded that there were significant legal and diplomatic challenges around seeking their extradition, Reuters reported.
Since the king's death, at least three people have been arrested for allegedly posting comments on social media that were deemed critical of the monarchy.
One of the cases involved a woman from Surat Thani province, identified as Umaporn who allegedly insulted the monarchy on her Facebook page. She was made to kneel in public before a portrait of Bhumibol and issue an apology as a crowd of several hundred royalists jeered her, according to reports.


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BENARNEWS- Three were killed and 22 injured in a separate bombing and shooting in Thailand's Deep South on Monday, the eve of the 12th anniversary of an infamous incident that helped inflame a separatist conflict.
A bomb explosion outside a noodle stall killed a woman and injured 21 other people at a market in Pattani province on Monday night, officials said. In the afternoon, two more were killed and a third person was injured in a shooting at a shop in another district in the province, according to authorities. Three girls and three boys were among those injured in the blast at a night market in Muang district.
"The bomber hid a ... bomb at the noodle stall earlier and detonated it later," Col. Pramote Prom-in, a spokesman for the forward office of Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) Region 4, told reporters.
"There were two suspects on a motorcycle parked in front of the noodle stall, pretending they were customers," he said, adding that the suspects left a 44-pound bomb in the crowded eating area near the stall before they fled the scene.
The latest violence occurred ahead of the anniversary of Tak Bai incident, in which 85 detainees suffocated to death in a police truck after they were reportedly stacked inside it like logs, on Oct. 25, 2004. The detainees were arrested while protesting outside a police station in Tak Bai, a district in neighboring Narathiwat province.
Thai authorities in recent days have been warning of violence that could take place on or around the anniversary.
Monday's violence brought to 14 the number of people who have been killed in a series of shootings and bombings in Thailand's predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking southern border region since early September.
Forty-four others were hurt in those incidents that occurred despite efforts by Thailand's military government to re-open formal peace talks with southern rebels. More than 6,000 people have been killed during the past 12 years in violence associated with the rebellion.
The woman who was killed in Monday's bombing was identified as Mrs. Somporn Kuntakaphan, 60. The 21 others who were injured were taken to Pattani Hospital.
"This noodle stall was bombed once about three to four years ago. We thought the reason the bombers [chose] this place was because it is always crowded with customers," said a police officer who helped rescue injured people.
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Damage from a bomb blast is shown at a night market in Muang district, Pattani province, Oct. 24, 2016. [BenarNews]
Earlier in the day, in Nong Chik district, a man and woman were killed and a woman was injured in a shooting at a shop in Tambon Khok Chan, Col. Thompong Petchpiroon, the local police chief, told reporters.
The case is being investigated to determine whether rebels or criminals carried out the attack, Thompong said.


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BENARNEWS- The leader of a Deep South student group said he sought help from the United Nations following the alleged arbitrary arrest and detention of Muslim students in security sweeps in and around Bangkok earlier this month.
Asmadee Bueheng, secretary-general of the Federation of Patanian Students and Youth (PERMAS), said he had submitted a letter to the office of the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Bangkok, asking it to help ensure that the Thai government provides detainees with fair treatment.
"We are concerned that the arrests of Muslim youths were not in line with the framework of laws," he told reporters at the OHCHR office on Monday.
He said that from Oct. 10 to 12, Thai officials arrested as many as 105 people from the area of Ramkhamhaeng University in Bangkok, but released only 44 names of detainees to the public.
The security sweeps followed a warning from the government that it had obtained intelligence about potential bomb plots to occur at the end of October within the greater metropolitan area.
Police were not immediately available on Tuesday to comment on the number of individuals arrested and an official at OHCHR did not reply to questions from BenarNews about the PERMAS letter.
On Oct. 18, however, a spokesman for the Thai junta – also known as the National Council for Peace and Order – said five men were detained for questioning related to security in the three southern border provinces. The men were not students, he said.
The five were among 14 people "invited" for questioning after a search of the Ramkhamhaeng area, Col. Winthai Suwaree told the Bangkok Post.
Students from the Deep South told media at the time that 44 people had been arrested during searches of student living quarters by police and soldiers.
"They threw smoke bombs into the rooms, used rude language and put guns to the students' heads to force them to lie down. Several were injured and assets in the room were damaged," Sulhan Beeing, chairman of the Students of Southern Border Provinces group, told the Bangkok Post.
Transferred to Pattani
Angkhana Neelapaijit, a national human rights commissioner, told BenarNews that the five people arrested in Bangkok were being held for questioning under martial law at Inkayuth Borihan Fort, a military installation in Pattani province.
Families of the five were allowed to visit them at the Military Circle 11 detention facility in Bangkok on Oct. 17, she said.
"The NCPO allowed relatives to visit the five detainees. The southern administration body granted aid to the poor relatives from the Deep South to make a visit on Oct. 17. And on Oct. 18, five of them were transferred to Pattani," Angkhana told BenarNews by phone.
Angkhana said the total number of arrests could not be confirmed.
On Oct. 18, Col. Wichan Sarikapan, commander of the 49th Ranger Regiment, named the five men arrested in Bangkok as Talmesee Totayong, Mufadeen Salae, Amri Ha, Nurman Abu and Uzman Kadenghaji.
Two other suspected would-be bombers – Abdulbazir Suekaji and Mubaree Kana – were arrested from Narathiawat's Srisakhon district after the five detainees implicated them as associates. The military took DNA samples from the two and sent them to Ingkayuth Borihan Fort, he said.
Pornpen Khongkachonkiet of Cross-Cultural Foundation said she was concerned about the arrests.
"What we want to know is whether officials have arrest warrants? What offenses were the suspected students arrested for? The officials said they are gathering information and chose to apply special law (martial law) but such special judicial methods do not respect human rights of detainees and suspects in criminal cases," she told BenarNews by phone.
Pornpen is one of three human rights activists charged with criminal defamation over a report that alleged systematic torture of suspected insurgents in Thai military and police custody.
Col. Pramote Prom-in, a spokesman for the military in the Deep South, told BenarNews on Tuesday that PERMAS and certain NGOs were slandering officials for doing their job in enforcing the law.
"You can maneuver however you want under the framework of rights and freedom. But that must not go beyond the framework of the constitution and must not violate laws. If you break laws, with either violent means or non-violent means, we must enforce the rules," he said.


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BENARNEWS- Philippine President Rogrigo Duterte's shifts in policy on China and United States is adding a fresh layer of uncertainty to the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).
The 10-nation group, set to mark its 50th Anniversary next year with the Philippines occupying the chair, is already beset by divisions focused on China's rising influence and the United States' strategic role in the region.
During a recent official visit to Beijing, Duterte announced the "separation" with long-time strategic partner the U.S. in favor of China, only to retreat from the position upon his return to the Philippines.
"I said separation – what I was really saying was separation of a foreign policy. In the past and until I became president we always follow what the United States would give. Separation of my foreign policy – that it need not dovetail the foreign policy of America – that's what I meant. Sever is to cut – separate is just another way of doing it," Duterte said.
Philippines reassures US
Philippine Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay moved to reassure the international community by telling visiting U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Daniel Russel, that Duterte had "already walked back" his comments.

But analysts say uncertainties over Dutere's policy shifts will have a wider impact within ASEAN.

Carl Thayer, a defense analyst with the University of New South Wales in Australia, said Duterte's unilateral comments may affect ASEAN regional stability as the president fails to prior consult other ASEAN members.
"The uncertainty in the region by unilateral actions is something that Duterte's going to need to address because shortly the Philippines becomes the chair of ASEAN starting next year," Thayer said.
South China Sea tensions
But Thayer said a positive outcome to Duterte's visit to China is the likely easing of regional tensions over conflicts over the South China Sea. Former Philippine President Benigno Aquino III unilaterally challenged China's maritime claims in the South China Sea. In July an arbitral tribunal ruled against China, a verdict rejected by Beijing.
"The South China Sea is no longer the issue that it was when the arbitration case was pending and the way Duterte is handling it. It has taken the sting out of that issue and provided China with the incentives to pick up [Duterte's] diplomatic initiative," he said.
Long-term impact
He said a less assertive China in the region is to be welcomed by other ASEAN members.

But Thitinan Pongsudhirak, director of the Bangkok-based Institute of Security and International Studies (ISIS), said Duterte's uncertain policy shifts may impact ASEAN over the longer term.
"This is going to spell long term implications for ASEAN because Manila/Philippines is a long term treaty ally of the United States and Thailand is the other ally. So two allies of America in South East Asia are relatively estranged now. This is going to be a dramatic tipping point for China-U.S. relations in the region," he said.
Thitinan added that another risk is the future of President Obama's pivot to Asia policy, leaving the U.S. to adjust its regional policies.
China's growing influence
He says recent events further highlight Beijing's growing influence over Southeast Asia's mainland nations – Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand.
"This means that ASEAN is going to be in Beijing's orbit next year much more than Washington and Washington will have to really think about what to do in the long term. This is detrimental for ASEAN because ASEAN wants a balance between Washington and Beijing – not to be too much one way or the other," he said.
Diplomatic efforts within ASEAN to set a unified policy over China and the South China Sea have been seen to be undermined as Beijing countered with diplomacy to isolate individual countries.
Ashley Townsend, a research fellow at Australia's Sydney University, sees increasing difficulties for ASEAN in finding a common position over issues such as island reclamation and militarization of the South China Sea.
"Duterte's comments and not just his rhetoric, but his very uncertain movement between the United States and China – or apparent movement – makes it very difficult for other ASEAN countries that are used to a much more stable direction in their region's foreign policies to really gauge where the Philippines under Duterte is likely to go," Townsend said.
ASEAN stability shaken

But he warns a "divided foreign policy" in the Philippines will leave ASEAN as an organization "in limbo when it comes to these big regional strategic questions about policy towards the South China Sea or ASEAN's place, vis-a-vis the U.S. and China."
Others, such as Dennis Quilala, an associate professor at the University of the Philippines, remain cautious but see Duterte's China policy as being in the "best interests of the Philippines" by easing regional tensions.
But Quilala still holds concerns over the possible impact of the president's policy shift.
"I am really afraid if it's just a shift of who our new masters will be. That's what I'm afraid of. I hope that the policies really are able to successfully work with both superpowers and be able to think about our interests. I hope that this will end that way because I really don't think that our interests is just going all the way to China," Quilala said.
He said to understand the Philippines' foreign policy under President Duterte it is best to wait for the policy pronouncements "coming out from the bureaucracy – that is the safest way to understand [Duterte] I guess."


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BENARNEWS- Killings have persisted in the troubled Thai Deep South even after government negotiators told a rebel delegation during talks this week to refrain from violence for a year while Thailand mourns its king.
Two civilians were shot dead in the region since the Thai side called Wednesday for a 12-month pause in bloodshed following the death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej on Oct. 13, who is officially being mourned over the next year.
The two sides met from Tuesday through Thursday in Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur, according to a spokesman for the MARA Patani panel representing southern insurgent groups. Both negotiating teams gave different accounts of progress in hammering out so-called safety zones – or a limited ceasefire – that would be a milestone in the peace process.
The 88-year-old Bhumibol (Rama IX), who ruled Thailand for 70 years, was "patron of all religions evenly and wished all people to love each other," Gen. Aksara Kerdpol, the head of the Thai delegation, said Friday as he confirmed that talks had taken place in the Malaysian capital this week.
" told them to not make a move and hope this year to not have more violence. The dissident groups also mourned the king and felt grateful to him," he told reporters in Bangkok, referring to the rebel groups from Thailand's predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking southern border area.
He said the negotiators also discussed safety zones.
"We have done talking on the safe zones and, from now on, we will define certain areas, be it at the level of village, Tambon [village cluster] or district. The aim is to stop violence through the peace-talk process," Aksara added.
On the rebel side, MARA Patani spokesman Abu Hafiz al-Hakim told BenarNews that the latest round of Malaysia-facilitated talks and the first to take place since the king died ended on Thursday.
"We have not agreed on anything, it will be continued," Hafiz said Friday. "We don't know when is the next date for a meeting. Thailand is still in a grieving period. We have to wait [until] they are available."
Since last year Thailand's military government has been trying to revive formal peace talks aimed at resolving the long-running separatist conflict in the country's southern border region, and which were last held under a civilian-led government in 2013. But despite a series exploratory talks with MARA Patani, the region has remained violent.
On Friday, a female school teacher was killed and a woman who was with her was injured in a drive-by shooting in Pattani, one of the provinces in the Deep South. The incident, in which the victims were shot in their car by suspects on a motorbike, was caught on camera. A video clip of the incident reportedly went viral after being posted on social media.
A day earlier, a contractor working on an irrigation project was shot dead in neighboring Narathiwat province.
Police said they suspected that insurgents carried out Friday's attack, but they said that Thursday's shooting may have not been linked to the insurgency.
More than 6,700 people have been killed since January 2004 in violence related to the conflict, Deep South Watch, a think-tank based in Pattani, said Thursday in releasing updated statistics.


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BENARNEWS- Thailand's deputy police chief said Wednesday that a suspect from the Deep South had confessed during interrogation to having taken part in a string of coordinated bomb attacks at southern tourist hotspots in mid-August.
Muhammad Muhi, a resident of Pattani province, told interrogators that he planted bombs in Phuket on Aug. 10, according to Deputy Police Chief Gen. Srivarah Rungsibrahmanakul.
Srivarah spoke to reporters at a youth detention center in the southern province of Nakhon Sri Thammarat, where 21-year-old Muhi is being held.
"Police investigators from Phuket interrogated him while in custody at the youth center, in the presence of Corrections Department officials, and he confessed to having a hand in three bomb cases," Srivarah said.
Among 11 coordinated bombings that killed four people and injured more than 30 in seven provinces on Aug. 11 and 12, two of the bombs went off in Phuket, injuring one person.
On Aug. 10, police found two other bombs at markets in Phuket but were able to diffuse them, officials said in the aftermath of the attacks. They took place days after Thailand staged a referendum in which a majority voted for a controversial constitution backed by the military government.
Muhi is one of only two suspects that have been arrested thus far in connection with the bombings in Phuket, Hua Hin and five other southern provinces, and a series of arson attacks in some of those provinces at around the same time.
The second suspect is Hakim Doloh, 30, who was arrested for allegedly setting fire in a store in Nakhon Sri Thammarat province. Hakim is in custody at Thung Song prison in Nakhon Sri Thammarat.
To date, Thai authorities have issued arrest warrants for at least 11 suspects wanted in connection with the attacks.
These provinces lie outside the boundaries of the insurgency-stricken Deep South, but authorities have said that many of the suspects come from that region. However, Thai officials have not said whether the suspects are linked to separatist insurgents in the Muslim majority, Malay-speaking Deep South.
In September, a member of Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) – the largest armed separatist group in the region – claimed to BenarNews that his combat unit had carried out the attacks on Aug. 11 and 12, and other recent bombings farther south.
"We claim that the attack in Tak Bai district was the act of our operation, as well as the train bombing and those attacks in the seven upper southern provinces too," said the leader of a BRN combat unit known as Runda Kumpulan Kecil (RKK), who asked not to be named.
Demands for transparency
On Wednesday, a human rights activist voiced concern about whether Muhi had received proper legal counsel during his time in custody.
"We are concerned that Muhi has no access to suspect's rights, such as visits by relatives and a trusted lawyer. As per reports, the police came with their own lawyer, who, perhaps, cannot not be trusted by the suspect," Anchana Heemmina, president of the Hearty Support Group, told Benar News.
Anchana, who was sued by the military for accusing soldiers of torturing suspected Dep South insurgents, said she wanted the police to handle Muhi's case with transparency "because the police's proper handling is an indicator of the overall judicial system's credibility."


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BENARNEWS- Suspected insurgents killed three and injured four in a spate of overnight attacks across Thailand's Deep South, hours after a new government task force for the region made its debut there.
Southern rebels were believed to be behind the 17 attacks Wednesday night and Thursday morning in three provinces of the Deep South and involved shootings, bombings and acts of arson, officials said.  A soldier at a military outpost in Pattani province and two private security guards at a car showroom in Songkhla province were killed. Among soft targets, a gas station and attached 7-Eleven convenience store were bombed and set on fire, according to local authorities.
The flurry of attacks was the most intense to strike the region in recent weeks, and came days after a Thai delegation called on negotiators from the rebel side, during exploratory peace talks in Kuala Lumpur, to refrain from violence for one year as Thailand mourns King Bhumibol Adulyadej. At the end of the last round of negotiations, a spokesman for a panel representing southern rebel groups and factions told BenarNews that they had "not agreed on anything."
The latest attacks brought to 21 the number of people who have died in shootings and other acts of violence in the predominantly Muslim Deep South since early September.
These attacks followed soon after the Thai junta's so-called "forward cabinet" for the Deep South met Wednesday for the first time with local Muslim and Buddhist leaders, as well as military officials and administrative officials from across the region.
"The causes of the violence are being scrutinized... There was no indicator that the violence was due to the first visit to Deep South of the government's special delegation," Col. Peerawit Saengthong, spokesman for the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) in Bangkok, told reporters on Thursday.
The 13-member cabinet is made up of civilians, ex-military and police officers. It was appointed last month by Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha and tasked with reporting back to him on matters relating to the Deep South, and serving as a direct link between him and provincial-level governments, regional agencies, the regional military command and other institutions there.
The panel includes Gen. Aksara Kerdpol, the head of the Thai delegation that has been trying since last year to reopen formal peace talks with southern rebels for the first time since late 2013. During the past 12 years, more than 6,700 people have died in violence associated with the separatist conflict, according to regional think-tank Deep South Watch.
"I confirmed that [the forward cabinet] will coordinate with agencies on the ground and the central government in order to push forward our work at a quicker pace. We do not have authority to command anyone," Deputy Defense Minister Gen. Udomdej Sitabutr, who leads the cabinet, said after its first meeting at Fort Suriyothai in Pattani, where it is based.
'Saddened and disturbed'
Ten of the overnight attacks occurred in Pattani, officials said. Among the fatalities, Pvt. Noppon Kaewpetch was shot dead while on duty at the outpost in Muang district.
In Nong Chik district in Pattani, a policemen was injured when suspected rebels bombed and set a fast station ablaze at around 10 p.m. Wednesday.
According to Col. Pathompong Petchpinun, the police chief in Nong Chik, the leader of an insurgent group, identified as Seree Waemamu, was suspected of taking part in the attack on the gas station and convenience store.
"More than 10 assailants came in a truck, burning a 7-Eleven outlet and planting bombs," he told BenarNews.
In Songkhla, three others were injured when assailants set off bombs at an ATM outside a government-run savings bank in Thepa district.
In Chana district, the two guards were killed after assailants set fire to the showroom at an Isuzu dealership on Wednesday night, according to the store's manager.
"One died in the office and another died outside of the showroom. The second one was shot multiple times. We did not know if they had arguments with the assailants or not, but they had no weapons," Anusart Suwanmongkol, the showroom's manager, who also is a secretary of the National Legislative Assembly, told BenarNews on Thursday.
He identified the dead guards as Sunya Smankarndee and Dolmalek Leeteh.
On Thursday, the head of the Islamic Committee of Songkhla condemned the attack.
"Muslim communities in Chana district are saddened and disturbed by the violent incidents. We express our strong opposition to the use of violence to destroy the life and properties of the innocents," committee chairman Sakriya Bilsaela told BenarNews


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BENARNEWS- Thailand's top court Thursday dismissed a criminal defamation claim against a labor rights activist  over jurisdictional issues, but he still faces jail time from a conviction in another complaint brought by a pineapple processing company.
The Supreme Court ruled that Briton Andy Hall, who has campaigned for years in Thailand for the rights of migrant workers from Myanmar and other countries, could not be tried in Thailand because the plaintiff had no power to prosecute him over comments made in another country. The charges were filed over comments made to the Al-Jazeera television network three years ago in Myanmar.
"I am glad that the unfair charge came to an end, but at the same time, we see that this company does not stop, does not end and uses the law to intimidate," Hall told BenarNews in a phone interview.
Despite the favorable ruling, Hall still faces three years in a Thai prison as a result of his conviction on similar charges in September.
The Bangkok South Criminal Court then sentenced him to prison and fined him 150,000 baht (U.S. $4,292), after finding him guilty of defaming the Natural Fruit Co. and violating Thailand's Computer Crimes Act.
The court on Sept. 20 handed down a four-year sentence, but reduced it to three years and included the stipulation that he could begin serving the sentence in two years.
Hall vowed to press on with his legal battle against the fruit company even as he faces additional defamation charges.
"We have to press charges in return. In fact, we are sorry to have to press charges against them and we're not mad at them. I have nothing against them. But it does not stop, so we just have to continue," Hall said.
Ongoing legal battles
Hall's attorney, Sira Osottham, said his client must prepare for a pair of outstanding cases and potentially more legal actions against him.
"At present, Andy Hall has two civil court cases at Pra Kanong Court (in Bangkok) and Nakorn Pathom Court," Sira said, adding there was a high possibility that the fruit company would file another civil case.
Meanwhile, a lawyer for the company said it respected the court ruling, but that Hall could expect more legal action soon.
"Further civil case proceedings will continue, and [Natural Fruit Co.] will file a case on Monday," lawyer Somsak Toraksa told BenarNews.
Hall faces prison time over his September conviction for defamation over the online publication of a survey about workplace conditions, in which he interviewed workers – most of whom are from Myanmar – at the Thai pineapple company's plant in the southern part of the country.
According to the survey, workers at the plant that employs some 800 people in Prachuap Khiri Khan province complained that Natural Fruit had violated Thai labor law through paying them salaries below minimum wage, not giving them sick and holiday leave, and employing children, among other allegations.
Hall undertook the research for Finnwatch, and claimed he merely relayed the information he had collected for the Finland-based NGO that advocates global corporate responsibility. In 2013, Finnwatch posted its report on the internet based on Hall's work.
Following the verdict, National Fruit owner and president Wirach Piyapornphaiboon said the court had vindicated the fruit company.
On Thursday, the U.N. Human Rights office in Bangkok issued a statement praising the court's decision. But it also called on the Thai government "to drop charges against all human rights defenders who have been charged with criminal offenses for reporting human rights violations in accordance with its obligations under international human rights law."


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BENARNEWS- Citing mounting legal threats against him, a British campaigner for migrant-worker rights in Thailand said Monday he had fled the country where he faced jail time over a complaint brought by a pineapple processing company.
Andy Hall, who spent 11 years in Thailand campaigning for the rights of migrants from Myanmar and other Southeast Asian countries, boarded a flight from Bangkok to Paris after midnight on Sunday and later confirmed to BenarNews his arrival in the French capital.
Hall left Thailand just four days after the Thai Supreme Court dismissed a ciminal defamation case brought by the Natural Fruit Co., ruling that the plaintiff lacked jurisdictional power to prosecute him over comments that he had made in another country. However, Hall still faced a three-year jail sentence following his conviction in September in a separate defamation case filed by the same Thai company.
"My goal has always been to improve living and working conditions of millions of exploited migrant workers in Thailand and ensure these workers access fully labor rights and other rights they are entitled under Thai law," Hall said in a statement posted on his Facebook page and Twitter on Monday, in which he detailed his reasons for leaving Thailand.
"However, in the end, the situation has not worked out as I planned or hoped. This work has entailed many personal challenges. I have in particular encountered insurmountable challenges with some companies and establishments," he added.
On Monday it was unclear what would happen with his standing conviction. Hall did not say whether he would return to Thailand, but he did say that he had given his head lawyer "all authority to act on my behalf in these matters and during my absence from Thailand. ..."
Hall cited a new legal case being mounted against him by the owner of a chicken farm in Lopburi province, where Hall had been working with the Migrant Worker Rights Network (MWRN) – an NGO that provides legal aid and translation services to migrants from Myanmar – to investigate allegations of workplace abuses.
"This case is now resulting in additional criminal prosecutions and threats of even more extensive litigation in Thailand's Courts of Justice. When taken together, this ongoing, costly and extensive litigation on migrant labor issues creates challenges that critically prevent in many ways enhancement of migrant worker rights in Thailand," Hall said in his statement.
Chanchai Permpol, the owner of Thammakaset Farm, which supplies chickens to Betagro Group, one of Thailand's giant poultry exporters, confirmed that Hall was among a group of rights activists whom he was suing over the allegations, which he denied.
"I sued whoever told the lie that caused damage to my business, including all in MWRN and so on," Chanchai told BenarNews on Monday.
The owner of the farm in Lopburi, which is about 160 km (100 miles) north of Bangkok, said two of his employees, in testifying before a labor court,  "admitted there was no such thing as torture and slavery" at his farm.
"I called on him [Andy] to come back and stand trial. If you lie, you lose. If I am guilty, I lose," Chanchai said in a phone interview.
Commenting from France on the lawsuit brought by Thammakaset Farm, Hall told BenarNews, "What myself, colleagues and others have said is that the workers were victims of forced labor and hence 'modern-day' slavery."
Past suits
The case against Hall that was dismissed on Nov. 3 stemmed from comments he made during an interview in Myanmar with the al-Jazeera television network three years ago.
But in September, the Bangkok South Criminal Court sentenced the Briton to prison and fined him 150,000 baht (U.S. $4,292), after finding him guilty of defaming the Natural Fruit Co. and violating Thailand's Computer Crimes Act.
The court handed him a four-year sentence, but reduced it to three years and stipulated that he could begin serving the sentence in two years.
The company had sued Hall for defamation over the online publication of a survey about workplace conditions, in which he interviewed workers – most of whom are from Myanmar – at the pineapple company's plant in southern Thailand.
Hall undertook the research for Finnwatch, and claimed he merely relayed the information collected for the Finland-based NGO that advocates global corporate responsibility. In 2013, Finnwatch posted its report on the internet based on Hall's work.
Somsak Toraksa, a lawyer representing Natural Fruit, on Monday did not comment specifically on Hall's exit from Thailand, but told BenarNews, "the lawyers and the court have the way to handle lawsuits in defendant's absence."


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BENARNEWS- Forty-two Thai women who were trafficked into Malaysia are being held at a safe house in the south of the country and will be repatriated, a Malaysian official told BenarNews.
The 42 are staying at a home for women in the state of Johor after being caught entering Malaysia without proper papers, according to the director of the state's Department of Immigration.
The Thai women are helping local authorities investigate a ring that allegedly trafficked them into the country, and they are being kept at a safe house run by the Social Welfare Department, Johor Immigration Director Rohaizi Bahari said.
"[A]fter all of them have given their statements in assisting the case, they will be sent back to their home country by the immigration authorities," Rohaizi told BenarNews on Monday. He declined to give more details.
The Thai ambassador to Malaysia confirmed that 42 Thai women were being held at a center for women in Johor, but he only had more specific information about half of them.
Twenty-one of the 42 had left Thailand in late September and are from Pattani and Yala, two provinces in Thailand's insurgency-stricken Deep South. The families of this batch of 21 had reported them missing after they had left for Malaysia, where they were promised jobs as snack vendors by immigration brokers, according to relatives.
"Thai consular staff, on behalf of the Thai government, will be granted permission to meet them in the women's home in Johor Bahru  on Tuesday, Nov. 15. We will try to seek Malaysia's speediest proceeding and hope they come back to Thailand soon," Damrong Kraikruan, the Thai ambassador to Malaysia, told BenarNews, referring the capital of the Malaysian state of Johor that borders Singapore.
According to a Malaysian police officer, this group is assisting local authorities investigate a case against two Thai nationals who have been arrested on suspicion of human trafficking.
"Now, two Thai trafficking brokers are being held on human trafficking charges. For the 21 women, officials will release them home soon after interrogation," the officer told BenarNews on condition of anonymity, adding that the women would not face any charges.
Worried relatives
The son of one of the women who went to Malaysia said brokers had promised her a job as a snack vendor in Johor, and that she and 20 other women had crossed into Malaysia from the southern Thai province of Songkhla.
"There were all together 21 women travelling in two pickup trucks. ... They were unable to be reached, and I thought Malaysian police had arrested them because they did not have work permits," Mamagadi Sulong, the son of 57-year-old Yala resident Hamida Salae, told BenarNews.
In nearby Pattani province, the husband of another woman said their five children have been crying since she left for Malaysia.
"My wife intended to earn money for our kids' education. There are not many jobs in Thailand and when [brokers] asked her to go to Malaysia, so she went," Musukri Jeho, the husband of Citi-ashisoh Lateh, told BenarNews.
When relatives of the 21 learned that their loved ones were unaccounted for in Malaysia, the brokers in Thailand asked each of them to each pay 20,000 baht (U.S. $564) as a fee to find the women, he said.
Hata Wahari in Kuala Lumpur contributed to this report.

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BENARNEWS- The trial of two Uyghur men accused of carrying out a deadly bombing last year at a Hindu shrine in Bangkok opened on Tuesday after months of delays caused by wrangling over a courtroom interpreter.
Adem Karadag (also known as Bilal Mohammed) and Yusufu Mierali went on trial at a military court in Bangkok after judges accepted a pair of interpreters provided by the Chinese embassy, according to a lawyer for the defendants.
Karadeg and Mierali were arrested within a few weeks of the bombing at the Erawan Shrine, a popular tourist destination in Bangkok, that left 20 people dead and 125 injured on Aug. 17, 2015. The two defendants, who identified themselves as Uyghurs from Urumqi in the Xinjiang region of China when they pleaded not guilty to the charges nine months ago, could face the death penalty if convicted.
"My clients were not happy about the translators provided by Chinese embassy, but, to me, it is acceptable for making the trial [go ahead]. It is a minor issue," defense lawyer Chuchart Kanpai told BenarNews.
"The translator can communicate well in Uyghur but the defendants felt uneasy. The court took note of the complaint of their discomfort," he said.
Many injured, many dead: Witness
Uyghurs are a Turkic-speaking Muslim minority within China, who mostly live in the Xinjiang region but are also spread across Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkey. Uyghurs have been leaving China in large numbers to escape alleged persecution and repression by Chinese authorities, who consider them to be separatists and terrorists.
The bombing happened weeks after Thai authorities forcibly sent nearly 100 Uyghurs to China. However, soon after the attack, Thailand's prime minister rejected media reports speculating about this.
Thai officials have since said that Karadeg and Mierali were part of a human trafficking ring that carried out the attack in retaliation for a crackdown by Thailand against people-smuggling networks last year. Thai authorities have issued 17 arrest warrants for Thai and foreign suspects wanted in the case, but the two Uyghurs are the only ones who have been arrested and charged in Thailand.
A pipe bomb, packed with three kilos of TNT, went off after being planted inside the shrine near a busy intersection in Bangkok.  Footage from a security camera caught a man leaving a backpack on a bench inside the shrine moments before the explosion. Police later identified the man as Adem Karadag.
Karadag, then 31, was arrested on Aug. 29, 2015, after police said they had found bomb-making materials at an apartment in Bangkok's suburban Nongjok district. He was charged with offenses ranging from premeditated killing and bomb possession to illegal entry into Thailand.
Mieraili, then 28, was arrested on Sept. 1, 2015, while trying to flee to neighboring Cambodia, police allege. Investigators claim that he was attempting to acquire bomb-making materials.
The start of their trial was twice delayed – in August and September – over problems with providing a courtroom interpreter who could translate between Uyghur and English.
The trial was postponed because an interpreter from Uzbekistan who had been appointed to the case was charged in a drug case by Thai authorities. Later, Thailand's attorney-general rejected an attempt by the defense team to get an interpreter provided by the World Uyghur Congress, a Uyghur exile group based in Germany, citing national security reasons.
On Tuesday, after the issue of the courtroom interpreter was settled, only one witness took the stand on the trial's opening day.
Police Col. Somkiat Ploytubtim, an officer who investigated the bomb site, testified for the prosecution.
"I saw many people injured and many dead. The shrine was damaged," Somkiat testified.
The trial is scheduled to resume on Wednesday. According to Agence France-Presse, it is expected to go on until early 2018 "with the court only sitting for a few days each month."


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BENARNEWS- A man accused of leading an insurgent squad in Thailand's Deep South for 12 years said he was tired of hiding out from the authorities, after he gave up and turned himself in this week.
Following his surrender at a police station in his home province of Yala, Sakariya Waegaji, 33, said he was prepared to fight charges of arson and possession of weapons, for which he was wanted in two arrest warrants.
Sakariya led a squad belonging to Runda Kumpulan Kecil (RKK), a combat unit of Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), the largest and most heavily armed of separatist groups that are fighting Thai security forces in the predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking Deep South.
"I have to hide all the time since the authorities issued an arrest warrant on me. ... Officials were always looking for me, so I fled from my neighborhood and stayed with my friends," Sakariya told reporters at Yala police station after he surrendered on Tuesday.
"It had been a hardship, I was starving, so my family members consulted with each other and they agreed to contact the headman of Tambon Laba to inform the police," he said, referring to the name of a village cluster.
On Thursday, the police officer who handled Sakariya's surrender said the suspect had been bailed out, but that he would stand trial in the criminal cases.
"We proceed with him according to two arrest warrants. He broke criminal codes but we are open for him to find evidence to refute the accusation," acting Yala provincial police bureau commander Col. Krisda Kaewchandee told BenarNews by phone.
"We will seek an opinion from the attorney general to determine when the cases should proceed. He was cooperative with officials so we gave him some time to prepare for next bail request," he said.
According to police in Sakariya's hometown in the mountains of Yala's Kabang district, he was staying with relatives there.
Decades of insurgency
Beginning in the 1960s, insurgent groups in the Thai Deep South – which encompasses Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala provinces, as well as parts of Songkhla province – have fought for the region to break away from Bangkok rule. The insurgency died down but then picked up again in 2004, when the BRN regained strength.
Since the conflict re-ignited 12 years ago, more than 6,700 people have been killed in violence associated with it, according to Deep South Watch, a think-thank that monitors the region.
According to a retired Thai military general who spent seven years in Deep South, the upper echelon of the BRN's leadership installed and commanded RKK cells in every village in the region.
"Each cell is assigned as a 'sleeper cell' that operates upon the call from above in the secretive chain of command. RKK team members normally do not know the middle-level BRN members and above," retired Gen. Samrej Srirai, former deputy commander of the 4th Army Region that oversees the Deep South, told BenarNews last year, noting that the cells operated across the Thai-Malaysia border.
Beginning in 2007, the regional branch of Thailand's Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) began a counter-insurgency campaign aimed at encouraging southern rebels to lay down their arms – whose latest program is known as the "Bring People Home Project."
Col. Pramote Prom-in, the regional spokesman for ISOC, said the project aimed to rehabilitate and return to normal life those facing criminal charges and others who fear arbitrary prosecution, even if they did not commit a crime.
About 4,000 people have joined the project, Pramote said. There are about 9,000 BRN militants whom authorities plan to re-integrate into society.
In the case of Sakariya, he likely does not qualify for the program yet because he faces trial on the criminal charges, according to Krisda.


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BENARNEWS- The leadership of the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), the largest and most heavily armed Muslim rebel group in Thailand's Deep South, has been revamped, according to Thai security sources.
The sources showed BenarNews what is purportedly a leaked official list of the current governing body of the BRN, identifying leaders who are not known to be part of a rebel panel involved in exploratory peace talks with the Thai government.
The seven-member list was based on a Sept. 28 reshuffle of the BRN's governing council, known in Malay as the Dewan Pimpinan Parti (DPP), a Thai security official told BenarNews on condition of anonymity.
It identifies Safie Basoe (also known as Sapae-ing Basoh) as the body's new chairman, and Abdullah Wan Mat Noor (alias Doonloh Wae-mano) as its new secretary. The two were already members of the council but it was unclear who Safie, its former secretary, replaced as chairman, the source said.
The notoriously secretive BRN is the most powerful and oldest active insurgent group in the Deep South, having recently marked its 56th anniversary. It is split into three factions and dominated by one of them, BRN-Coordinate (BRN-C).
All three factions are believed to be represented on MARA Patani, a seven-member panel participating in exploratory talks with the Thai government aimed at resolving a long-running separatist conflict that has killed more than 6,700 people since it reignited 12 years ago.
The list purportedly issued by the BRN does not include names of any BRN figures who are said to serve as representatives of its factions on the MARA Patani negotiating panel. The panel was presented to the public in August 2015 and no updates to its membership have been announced since then.
When contacted about the reported reshuffle of the BRN council on Monday, a senior MARA Patani official not affiliated with that rebel group told BenarNews he was unaware of the changes.
"This is news to me," he said.
'It cannot make safety zones'
Since early September, shootings and bombings blamed on insurgents have killed 21 people in the Deep South. The Thai delegation and MARA Patani have discussed so-called "safety zones," a limited ceasefire seen as a potential milestone in the Malaysia-facilitated peace process, during recent meetings.
According to a regional security expert, the changes in the BRN leadership are a bad sign for the talks.
"MARA Patani does not have an influential member like Abdullah Wan Mat Noor. MARA Patani cannot order the RKK to stop. It cannot make safety zones," retired Gen. Samrej Srirai, a former deputy commander of the Thai army in the region, told BenarNews.
RKK is an acronym for BRN combat units known as Runda Kumpulan Kecil.
The list (shown below) identifies the five other councilmen as Din Wan Cik, leader of the military wing; Muhd. Arsad Wansor, treasurer; Abdul Munir, leader of BRN's political wing; Hasan Khatib, head of its international political wing; and Bustaman Salih, an adviser to the DPP.
Safie is the former headmaster of a religious school, the Thammawittaya Foundation School, which is located in the Deep South province of Yala. He is also considered a "spiritual leader" among insurgents in the Thailand's Muslim dominated and Malay-speaking southern border region, according to retired and acting senior Thai military officials who know the region well.
Abdullah, the new No. 2 man in BRN, is a former headmaster of a school in Pattani – another province in the Deep South – who fled Thailand in 2004 after being charged with rebellion for allegedly training insurgents on his school's grounds, sources said.
"His promotion is not a surprise," a member of an RKK unit told BenarNews on Monday, referring to Safie.
"There were changes in the leadership arrangement, but the BRN's policies remain the same, in which it declared the Deep South a battlefield," he said.
An arrest warrant is still out for Safie, Col. Songsak Saksakul, the director of the Department of Special Investigation, told BenarNews.
[https://www]
Razlan Rashid in Kuala Lumpur contributed to this report.


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BENARNEWS- The question of independence for Thailand's Deep South is best left to future generations, according to the spokesman for a panel representing rebel groups in exploratory peace talks with Thailand's military government.
"The aim of all [our] organizations is to gain independence. That's what we have been fighting for all these years. But at a certain point we have to revise it," Abu Hafiz Al- Hakim told BenarNews in a recent interview.
"We need to review about fighting for independence. Maybe self-rule, self-administration, self-determination is more realistic. But the name is not important. Most important is the content, and that the Malay Patani would have the right to live a normal life."
The 60-year-old physician, a native of Pattani province, spoke with BenarNews in Kota Bharu, the capital of the Malaysian state of Kelantan.
He is a senior member of the Patani Islamic Liberation Front (BIPP) and its representative on MARA Patani, the negotiating panel formed in May 2015, as well as its spokesman.
Other groups represented on the panel are National Revolutionary Front (BRN), the largest rebel force; two factions of Patani United Liberation Organization (PULO); and the Islamic Mujahideen Movement of Patani (GMIP).
Six BRN members and eight representatives of other groups make up the MARA steering committee, Abu Hafiz told BenarNews. "Important posts are given to BRN because they are dominant," he said.
Thailand's Deep South, formerly the Malay kingdom of Patani Darussalam, encompasses Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat provinces, and four districts of Songkhla.
Violent incidents occur almost daily in the region. More than 15,000 gun or bomb attacks have been recorded and more than 6,700 people killed since January 2004, according to Deep South Watch, a local think-tank.
Abu Hafiz has been involved in peace efforts for years – long before short-lived talks between the BRN and the government of then-Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra in 2013, he told BenarNews.
Exploratory talks with the Thai military government that took over in May 2014 have yet to produce any concrete outcome, and violence continues to plague southern Thailand.
But Abu Hafiz expressed surprising confidence in the process, and a willingness to accept outcomes short of independence.
BenarNews: What is the way ahead for the peace talks? What is your expectation of the time frame?
Abu Hafiz : This process is definitely a long process, not one or two years ...
When we talk to the military our aim is to consolidate the process and to do confidence-building with them. The military won't be there forever ... substantive issues will be discussed with an elected government later.
We've learned that when we touch sensitive issues, it will break the process. In a previous dialogue, BRN brought five preliminary demands – that brought a shock. It's like you go into someone's house and you say you want this, and this and this ... it's not the right way. We should build confidence first, and then we move to the next step.
That's what we are doing now. We don't expect to talk about development, economic development, education, administration. Maybe just about security. That's why when they said they want to talk about safety zones ... we agreed to talk about it. Because they are the correct people to talk about safety zones.
BN: Is the Thai government sincere?
AH: You cannot measure sincerity but you can measure commitment – the way they behave ... we look at it objectively. In the previous process ... there was no structure ... but this time around, it is well-structured. First, with the military, there is a steering committee and it is chaired by the prime minister. The second level is a dialogue team. The third level is at the 4th region in the Deep South. Back then it was only dialogue team and nothing else. So this is how we measure commitment objectively.
BN: Realistically, what do you hope to achieve at the end of the talks?
AH: First, the aim of all [our] organizations is to gain independence. That's what we have been fighting for all these years. But, at a certain point, we have to revise it, based on the current situation, based on the world's situation. It was OK to talk about independence in the '60s and '70s ... now people are talking about integration rather than separation ... look at the EU, look at ASEAN. Borders are no longer relevant, and now is the age of dialogue.
So when we decided to go for negotiations, we need to review about fighting for independence. Maybe self-rule, self-administration, self-determination is more realistic. But the name is not important. Most important is the content: that the Malay Patani would have the right to live a normal life, to decide their own future.
BN: Are there elements in the insurgent movement that don't support MARA Patani?
AH: ... In MARA there is BRN ... but there are also BRN [members] who are not willing to talk to the military. To us, this is actually BRN's internal issue and they have to sort it out.
There are certain people within MARA that have certain links with the mainstream BRN outside. Through these links, they are in touch with each other. If one understands the nature of the BRN operation, this has happened so many times. For example, in 1991 BRN was talking with the 4th regional army, in a direct negotiation, but the negotiation was not [with] the main BRN ... only a faction of BRN militia.
BN: Does MARA Patani have control over the people with weapons in the Deep South?
AH: I'll answer you like this. MARA Patani is not a military coalition ... MARA is a political coalition. But armed groups are [part of] the individual groups [that make up MARA], in PULO and BRN ... we don't have power in these groups, but members of MARA have channels to these groups. They are communicating and we know they are communicating.
BN: What do you wish people knew about the Deep South that gets eclipsed by the violence?
AH: We want the world community to know there is a problem there ... the world community must support this peace process – not necessarily support us, but support this process. We just hope that the people of Patani are able to decide their own future. When I say Patani people – it doesn't mean the Malays and the Muslims, [but] all who are there, including the Thai minorities and Chinese.
The question of independence, in my personal opinion, is for the future generation; if they want, they can do it politically. If the people are satisfied with the outcome of the peace process the issue of independence is irrelevant.
That's how the people of Patani are ... they just want things of day-to-day life – job, education, security, religion, the right to determine their own future.


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BENARNEWS- The Thai parliament announced Tuesday that it would formally invite Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn to become king of Thailand's 68 million people and occupy the throne vacated by the death of his father last month.
The announcement marked the first official step in Thailand's royal succession and in the prince's expected accession to the throne as King Rama X, the tenth ruler in the Chakri Dynasty.
The National Legislative Assembly (NLA) convened a special session to discuss the matter after receiving an urgent letter earlier in the day from the cabinet of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha.
"The throne is vacant and Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn was appointed heir-apparent in line with the royal succession charter of 1924. The cabinet informed the chairman of the National Legislative Assembly to convene a meeting and to further invite the heir-apparent to the throne," NLA Chairman Pornpetch Wichitcholchai announced on the parliament's TV channel.
"Long live the king," members of the assembly proclaimed after Pornpetch read out the statement, according to news reports.
The nation has been in mourning since King Bhumibol Adulyadej died on Oct. 13 of health-related complications at age 88. At the time, the crown prince – the king's only son – declined to ascend to the throne immediately, saying he wanted to grieve with the Thai people for his father who had ruled over his subjects for 70 years, officials said.
Prime Minister Prayuth addressed the nation later on Tuesday, saying the announcement was the first formal step in the royal succession.
Now it is up to the prince to have a royal audience to accept the invitation from the National Legislative Assembly, and this "will happen soon," Prayuth said in a nationally televised broadcast.
"In line with the constitution, today, the cabinet has convened to acknowledge the procedure. We sent a letter to the National Legislation Assembly to inform it, and it will invite the heir-apparent to be crowned King Rama X," he added.
The chairman of the assembly is to extend the invitation during the audience with the prince, and Maha Vajiralongkorn will ascend to the throne after accepting the formal invitation, according to Thai media.
He will take over a kingdom divided by bitter rivalries among Thailand's influential parties and governed by a junta. The military has twice since 2006 overthrown democratically elected governments led by members of the Shinawatra family.
But while the prince may soon ascend to the throne, the 64-year-old will not be crowned king until late 2017 at the earliest.
That will follow a year of mourning for King Bhumibol, which will culminate in his state funeral, officials said in October. That was when they appointed Prem Tinsulanonda, a 96-year-old ex-general and chairman of the Privy Council, to serve as regent of Thailand until the new monarch's ascension.
The crown prince issued no statements on Tuesday. He was expected to fly home later this week from Germany, where he has another residence, Reuters reported.
Life of a prince
Born in Bangkok on July 28, 1952, Vajiralongkorn is the second of four children and only male born to King Bhumibol and Queen Sirikit. On Tuesday, his 84-year-old mother was released from a local hospital where she was being treated for a lung infection and fever, the Associated Press reported.
The prince was educated in Thailand, England and Australia, where he attended the prestigious King's School, near Sydney.
In 1972, at age 20, Vajiralongkorn was elevated to Crown Prince, officially putting him in line to inherit the throne. Three years later, he graduated from the Royal Military College near Melbourne.
He returned to Thailand when neighboring nations in Southeast Asia were falling to communist insurgencies and the kingdom was facing its own communist scare.
The prince joined in the anti-communist fight. In 1976, he took part in military operations in northern and northeastern Thailand, where the threat was most entrenched.
In the late 1970s, the prince started a new career, learning how to fly helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft, and logged more than 2,000 hours in the cockpit. In 2012, he became a certified flight instructor for pilots training to fly Boeing 737s.
Besides being an avid pilot, the prince oversees the command of the Royal Guards, a unit whose roots date back to his great, great-grandfather, King Rama IV.
The prince has been married three times and has eight children from four women.


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BENARNEWS- Authorities on Wednesday charged three men from Thailand's Deep South over an alleged plot to bomb tourist sites in the greater Bangkok area, but said the suspects were not linked to a southern insurgency.
The three, who were formally arrested on Tuesday, are the first suspects to be arrested and charged in connection with the alleged plot, the deputy police chief said.
They were picked up on Oct. 17 during security sweeps mounted in and around Bangkok after authorities had received an intelligence report warning of car-bomb plots targeting the greater metropolitan area, Police Gen. Srivarah Rangsipramanakul told reporters in Bangkok.
"Officials have evidence so that arrest warrants were approved," Srivarah said. "For the reason why they would do it, interrogators are questioning them. Some of them admitted plotting attacks, but some did not."
He said the suspects were charged with criminal possession of bomb-making materials and taking part in a conspiracy to commit an act of violence, among other charges.
Srivarah identified the suspects as Talmesi Totanyong, 31, Abdulrashir Suekaji, 19, and Mubari Kana, 22, saying they all hailed from Narathiwat, a province in the predominantly Muslim Deep South. A separatist insurgency has raged for decades in Thailand's southern border region, claiming more than 6,700 lives since 2004.
After being detained in the Bangkok area in October, the three were taken to Fort Inkayuth Borihan, an army camp in the Deep South province of Pattani where they were held until Tuesday, Srivarah said.
A court in Narathiwat released them from military custody but they were transferred to police custody and flown to Bangkok, where they were charged at the Crime Suppression Division (CSD) on Wednesday. Warrants for their arrest had been issued on Nov. 25, the deputy police chief said.
"I ordered the southern police operations center to further investigate the case. Some suspects gave us useful information so that we believe we can issue arrest warrants on the upper-level leader in the Deep South," he told reporters at the CSD.
But he denied that the alleged bomb plot targeting the greater Bangkok area was connected to the insurgency.
"All three came from the southern provinces and were prepared to carry out an attack in Bangkok and surrounding areas, but we believe they are not separatists," Reuters quoted the deputy police chief as saying. "They planned to target tourist sites."
Srivarah gave no other details.
Last year, the Thai capital was the site of a bombing that targeted the Erawan Shrine, a Bangkok landmark popular with tourists, and left 20 people dead and 125 injured. Two Uyghur men have been charged and put on trial in Bangkok in connection with the August 2015 attack on the Hindu shrine.
This past August, a series of coordinated bomb attacks killed four people and injured more than 30 others at tourist hotspots across southern Thailand.
But the provinces that were attacked on Aug. 11and 12 lie outside the confines of the Deep South, and Thai officials have denied that those bombings were linked to the southern insurgency.
However in September, a member of Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) – the largest of the armed separatist groups in the Deep South – claimed to BenarNews that his combat unit had carried out the attacks in the seven provinces farther north.


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BENARNEWS- Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn formally became Thailand's king Thursday after accepting an invitation from the nation's parliament to take the throne left vacant by his father's death in mid-October.
Royal regent Gen. Prem Tinsulanonda led a delegation consisting of National Legislative Assembly speaker Pornpetch Wichitcholchai, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha and chief Supreme Court Judge Weerapol Tangsuwan to an audience with the 64-year-old crown prince at the Amporn Sathan Hall in Dusit Palace at around 7:15 p.m. The event was broadcast nationwide three hours later.
"As the chairman of the national legislation assembly, in capacity of the parliament spokesman, and on behalf of all Thai people, has extended an invitation to me to be the king, at the wish of the King Bhumibol Adulyadej and in accordance with the royal succession and the constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand, I accept it to fulfill his majesty's wish and for the benefit of all Thai people," King Vajiralongkorn told the delegation during a brief official audience.
The 10th King of the Chakri Dynasty is named King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun, or King Rama X.
Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Kreau-ngam said the commencement of the new king's reign was retroactive to the day former King Bhumibol Adulyadej died of health complications at the age of 88, after a 70-year reign.
"The kingdom is retroactively in effect Oct. 13, because the throne cannot be vacant for too long, which is in line with the international royal succession rule," he told reporters as he informed them to prepare for the development.
At the time, the crown prince – the king's only son – declined to ascend the throne immediately, saying he wanted to grieve with the Thai people for his father, officials said.
King Maha Vajiralongkorn took over a kingdom divided by bitter rivalries among Thailand's influential parties and governed by a junta. The military has twice since 2006 overthrown democratically elected governments led by members of the Shinawatra family.
Wissanu said in October that the coronation ceremony of King Rama X would not take place until the after the cremation of King Bhumilbol. Thailand will mourn the late king for at least one year before the cremation is held on the grounds of the Grand Palace.
Life of a prince
Born in Bangkok on July 28, 1952, Vajiralongkorn is the second of four children and only male born to King Bhumibol and Queen Sirikit. On Tuesday, his 84-year-old mother was released from a local hospital where she was being treated for a lung infection and fever, the Associated Press reported.
The prince was educated in Thailand, England and Australia, where he attended the prestigious King's School, near Sydney.
In 1972, at age 20, Vajiralongkorn was elevated to Crown Prince, officially putting him in line to inherit the throne. Three years later, he graduated from the Royal Military College near Melbourne.
He returned to Thailand when neighboring nations in Southeast Asia were falling to communist insurgencies and the kingdom was facing its own communist scare.
The prince joined in the anti-communist fight. In 1976, he took part in military operations in northern and northeastern Thailand, where the threat was most entrenched.
In the late 1970s, the prince started a new career, learning how to fly helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft, and logged more than 2,000 hours in the cockpit. In 2012, he became a certified flight instructor for pilots training to fly Boeing 737s.
Besides being an avid pilot, the prince oversaw the command of the Royal Guards, a unit whose roots date back to his great, great-grandfather, King Rama IV.
The king has been married three times and has eight children from four women.


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BENARNEWS- The father of a Thai activist said his son showed no fear as he became the first person arrested and charged under Thailand's strict royal defamation laws since King Maha Vajiralongkorn ascended to the throne.
Two days after the new king's ascension, Jatupat "Pai" Boonpattararaksa, a student activist from Khon Kaen University in the northeast, was taken into custody on Saturday under the so-called Lese-Majeste law for allegedly sharing a BBC Thai profile of the new monarch on Facebook.
Jatupat was among hundreds of people who shared the king's profile by the BBC on social media pages, Agence France-Presse quoted an anti-junta activist group, the New Democracy Movement, as saying. A screen grab of the new king's profile on a Facebook page showed it had more than 2,500 shares.
Jatupat, who was released Sunday after posting 400,000 baht (U.S. $11,210) for bail, faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted of the charge, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported. He is due to appear at Khon Kaen court on Jan. 23.
According to Jatupat's father, Viboon Boonpattararaksa, a large number of police arrived in at least four pickup trucks when they came to arrest the student in Chaiyapoom province on Saturday.
"My son has not been issued a summons, but the court issued an arrest warrant and police came to arrest him," Viboon told BenarNews in a phone interview Monday. "He was not allowed to contact his relatives or his lawyer even though his lawyer was waiting at the Khon Kaen police station."
Police tried to provide a lawyer for Jatupat, but he refused, according to his father.
"Pai was not scared. They argued over his 'rights' until the police allowed him to contact his own lawyer," Viboon said, who himself is an attorney.
Khon Kaen police said they could not comment on the case.
'Impartial, independent'
Meanwhile, BBC News stood by its Thai language service's article on King Maha Vajiralongkorn.
"BBC Thai was established to bring impartial, independent, and accurate news to a country where the media faces restrictions, and we are confident that this article adheres to the BBC's editorial principles. While we do not comment on individual cases, we do everything we can to ensure the safety of all our staff around the world," Charlotte Morgan, a spokeswoman for BBC News in London, told BenarNews via email.
Last week the then-crown prince accepted an invitation from parliament to succeed his father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who died in October after 70 years on the throne.
On Monday, people across Thailand marked the birthday of the late king, who would have turned 89 on Dec. 5. Thais have been in mourning since his death, and, in the troubled Deep South, Buddhists gave alms and food to monks as they honored Bhumibol's memory on his birthday.
Lese-Majeste charges increase
Since taking power in 2014, a junta led by Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha has sharply increased filing charges over perceived slights against the monarchy. In July, Thai police questioned the wife of a British journalist who posted to social media photos of the then-crown prince even though the photos were taken at a German airport and the journalist did not live in Thailand.
Record-breaking 25- and 30-year sentences have been handed down for people over Facebook posts, while a man found himself arrested for making sarcastic comments about Bhumibol's late dog. Many convictions are not made public because Thai journalists censor themselves when reporting cases to avoid falling foul of the law.


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BENARNEWS- Thai authorities are investigating BBC News over a report about Thailand's new king, officials said Wednesday with the prime minister warning foreign media organizations they could be prosecuted over violations of royal defamation laws.
The news network is being probed for a profile of King Maha Vajiralongkorn that was published by its London-based Thai-language service, BBC Thai, after he ascended the throne on Dec. 1, officials said. The BBC News website also carried the story in English on the same day.
"This case is in the process of investigation but I cannot disclose the details," Pornchai Chalordej, who commands the police station responsible for the case, told Agence France-Presse.
The article, which has been blocked online in Thailand since it was published, drew more than 2,500 shares on Facebook. A Thai activist was arrested Saturday under the Lese-Majeste law after he allegedly shared the piece on his Facebook page.
Jatupat "Pai" Boonpattararaksa, who posted bail on Sunday, is the first person to be charged under the law after Maha Vajiralongkorn succeeded King Bhumibol Adulayadej, who died on Oct. 13 at age 88. Since a military government took power in May 2014, scores of Thais have been arrested and charged under the law for posting content online perceived as insults against members of the monarchy.
"Authorities have to pursue the matter. It is their duty to pursue anything that is against the law," Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan told journalists on Wednesday, referring to the BBC report, according to Reuters.
Prime Minister and junta chief Prayuth Chan-o-cha also commented on the matter.
"In regard to security issues and on foreign media, as it [BBC News] has a branch office and has Thai staff, and when they break a law, they can be prosecuted. And that's it," Prayuth told reporters in Bangkok.
He warned members of the media to be mindful when reporting, or face the possibility of being prosecuted under the nation's laws.
"So be careful to not infringe on other people's privacy or causing unrest," he said.
The authorities may consolidate a potential criminal case against BBCNews with the one against Jatupat, National Police spokesman Maj. Gen. Piyapan Pingmuang told BenarNews.
"If anyone is implicated, all of them will be charged. We don't separate the case of him and BBC," the spokesman said.
Meanwhile, Jonathan Head, the BBC's Bangkok-based Southeast Asia correspondent, declined comment.
Earlier this week, a spokeswoman for BBCNews said it was standing by the Thai service's profile of the new king.
"BBC Thai was established to bring impartial, independent, and accurate news to a country where the media faces restrictions, and we are confident that this article adheres to the BBC's editorial principles. While we do not comment on individual cases, we do everything we can to ensure the safety of all our staff around the world," Charlotte Morgan told BenarNews via email.


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BENARNEWS- In the deadliest spate in weeks, suspected insurgents shot dead six people in a series of attacks carried out Tuesday and Wednesday in Thailand's Deep South, police said.
The killings over a 24-hour span were the most in the region since three people were killed and four injured in a flurry of gun and bomb attacks on Nov. 2 and Nov. 3.
The latest attacks brought to 29 the number of people killed in Thailand's predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking southern border region since Sept. 1, despite ongoing negotiations between the Thai military government aimed at opening formal peace talks with rebel groups. Another 67 people were injured in attacks dating since then, according to data compiled by BenarNews.
Police said the six were killed and two others were injured in separate shootings in Pattani and Narathiwat, provinces in the Deep South.
The shootings began when a militia officer and his wife were killed in Nong Chik, a district of Pattani.  Police identified the couple as Thawat Pongsuwan and his wife, Papimon Chaikong. They were gunned down while riding a motorcycle to pick up their daughter.
Later on Tuesday, a village headman in Pattani's Yaring district, Pradab Ma-inchon was shot dead in a pickup truck with his wife, Amphan Ma-inchon, who was treated for injuries at the Yaring Hospital. Police said the couple was heading to the hospital when the shooting occurred, police said.
Soon after, Duan Srirat, 38, an employee of the provincial electricity authority, was killed in Panarae, another district of Pattani.
The last incident on Tuesday occurred when the bullet-ridden body of volunteer ranger Adul Yamyae was found, Saiburi district, Pattani.
At 2 a.m. Wednesday, police at the Yee Ngor police station in Narathiwat province reported that Alfeesa Yima, 25, was injured while driving home in Lubo buesa in Yee Ngor district in Narathiwat province.
Later, in the Janae district of Narathiwat, Abdulachi Dolah, 31, was shot and killed while driving home.
The region has seen more than 15,000 gun or bomb attacks and more than 6,700 people have been killed since the decades-old separatist insurgency re-ignited January 2004, according to Deep South Watch, a local think-tank.


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BENARNEWS- In Thai schoolbooks, farmers are called the "backbone" of the agriculture-oriented country. But that backbone is under stress.
In the rice sector alone, farmers have long encountered uncertainties caused by competition in the world market, impacts from drought or floods, and, for many, long-term debt.
"I sold rice at 5,900 baht ($168.60) per ton in last season's crop. Some others got only 5,200 to 5,300 baht per ton," said Lamduan Maliwan, a farmer in Ayudhya province north of Bangkok.
That price, from September, was the lowest in decades, she said.
"I invested 120,000 baht ($3,429) on 40 rai (15.8 acres) of rice fields. My yield was 20 tons. I did not make a profit at all," she said, adding that fertilizer alone cost 20,000 baht ($559).
Taking care of rice farmers – 23 million of the nation's 51 million eligible voters – is a key concern of any government and political party in Thailand.
A failed rice scheme helped topple the previous government of Yingluck Shinawatra. Now, with rice prices foundering, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha is injecting billions of baht into new loans and subsidies.
Prone to corruption
Thailand is one of the world's major rice suppliers, exporting 9.79 million tons valued at $4.613 billion in 2015, according to the Thai Rice Exporters Association (TREA). The two top importers of Thai rice were China and the Philippines.
But in three of the last four years, India surpassed Thailand as the world's top rice exporter, the TREA statistics showed.
During Yingluck's tenure as prime-minister, from August 2011 to May 2014, Thai rice farmers were encouraged to store their crop in government silos in anticipation of better world prices and given advances of 15,000 baht ($419) per ton that they were to repay later.
But rice rotted in silos because world prices never reached that height. Some farmers who stored their rice received nothing because the government ran out of money to fund the scheme.
Meanwhile, the high price of Thai rice in 2012 and a major flood in 2011 allowed India and Vietnam to become the two top rice exporters in 2012, with India exporting 10.65 million tons and Vietnam million 7.73 tons, versus Thailand's 6.97 million tons.
Dr. Warong Dejwikrom, a former member of parliament from the Democrat Party, told BenarNews that Yingluck's programs were gravely flawed and prone to corruption.
"The middle rice price was 9,000 baht per ton then, but she accepted the mortgage at 15,000 baht per ton," Warong told BenarNews.
"In my opinion, the mortgage price should have been below the middle price. She simply bought overpriced rice. The government then had to act as trader and it was opened to corruption and caused the country heavy losses," he said.
Before Yingluck was toppled by Prayuth in May 2014, her government failed to pay outstanding mortgages to farmers because it was broke.
In January 2016, the Supreme Court started the trial of Yingluck for failure to stop a "corrupt" subsidy project. Her trial is expected to continue to mid-2017.
In September, the Comptroller General Department ordered Yingluck to repay 35.7 billion baht out of net subsidy losses of 178 billion baht in the 2012/13 and 2013/14 seasons.
However, a former MP for Yingluck's Pheu Thai Party argued that Yingluck's trial is not "appropriate."
"This rice mortgage is for the best benefits of the public. Every government did it and there were no such thing as loss or gain because the projects were aimed at helping the farmers," Somkid Cheaukong told BenarNews by phone.
'The price was right'
Prices of several varieties of rice, including famous fragrant jasmine rice, have plunged to record lows in 2016.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, the Prayuth administration is injecting 219 billion baht ($6.1 billion) into agricultural subsidies and development projects, and 209 billion baht ($5.8 billion) into various types of loans for rice farmers this year.
As part of this effort, the government has set aside 20 billion baht ($559 million) for two million jasmine rice farmers in a mortgage scheme set to end in February 2017.
Commerce Minister Apiradee Tantraphand announced in early November that the government had launched a jasmine rice mortgage scheme in which farmers receive 13,000 baht per ton ($363) but keep the rice at home silos, unlike Yingluck's projects which relied on government silos or storage facilities run by private rice mills.
"I prefer Yingluck's projects because the price was right. Lately the price is too low at 8,000 baht per ton," said La-ead Ekchote, a jasmine rice farmer in northeastern province of Maha Sarakham, told BenarNews.
Warong, the former MP, said the new scheme was better.
"The government does not have to buy rice and store it because doing so will lead to a lot of corruption, if the government stores and mills rice themselves," he said.
"When farmers keep their own rice, the rice will not be in the market, and that will increase the demand for rice in the market.  The price of rice will be higher," he added.


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BENARNEWS- Thailand's Narcotics Suppression Bureau (NSB) on Friday announced a record seizure of nearly one-half metric tonne of crystal methamphetamine and the arrest of seven citizens for drug trafficking.
The haul had a street value of about 1.4 billion baht (U.S. $40 million), according to a statement released by the NSB.
Officers carried out the bust in an operation that started late Wednesday and continued into Thursday.
It began after a car stopped short of a police check-point in southern Chumphon province, according to the statement. Police searched the vehicle but found nothing.
"But the driver was acting suspiciously, refusing to answer mobile phone calls in presence of police ... he began to shake and sweat," the NSB statement said, according to a translation by Agence France-Presse.
Investigators found two suspects in another vehicle who confessed to acting as lookouts for a convoy transporting drugs, according to the statement.
Officers then found an 18-wheel truck parked at a petrol station in Chumphon town with 500 bars of methamphetamine, also known as ice, wrapped in black plastic bags and hidden under sacks of corn husks, the NSB statement said. Five alleged traffickers were arrested.
The NSB said the group was hired by a man named "Kai" for 2 million baht ($55,788) to carry drugs from Payao province in northern Thailand to Sadao district in southern Songkhla province, which lies on the border with Malaysia.
Early Thursday, the NSB arrested two more men who were waiting to pick up the shipment in Sadao district and resume transporting it to its next destination, according to the statement.
"It's a record seizure of these drugs," Maj. Gen. Dusadee Choosangkij told AFP. "I believe they were to be stored in Malaysia and then destined for either Australia or Taiwan."
In March, Thai police arrested two Malaysians who were allegedly carrying 282 kilograms (621 pounds) of crystal methamphetamine at the Sadao checkpoint in Songkhla province, while trying to enter Malaysia. Thai authorities said neighboring Malaysian authorities had tipped them off.
About a week earlier, Thai police announced the arrests of 15 Malaysians suspected of trying to smuggle crystal methamphetamine and heroin by train into Malaysia.


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BENARNEWS- Representatives of the Thai government and of separatist groups in the country's Deep South region return to the negotiating table next week to discuss a limited ceasefire proposal that one rebel source says will not be respected by militants on the ground.
The technical-level meeting – the latest round of exploratory talks aimed at ending a bloody, decades-old conflict in Thailand's southernmost provinces – is to take place in Malacca, Malaysia, from Dec. 19 to 21, according to a Thai government official.
Thai government sources said the talks are expected to continue discussions of "safety zones," under which a number of districts in conflict-affected areas would come under ceasefire and development projects aimed at enhancing the locals' livelihood would be carried out.
A member of the notoriously secretive Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), the largest and most lethal rebel force in the region, dismissed the development initiatives as pacification efforts aimed at pitting the local population against the 56-year-old insurgent group.
"The [Thai government] wants to drive a wedge between us and the local Malay Muslims with this project," a BRN source told BenarNews, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Moreover, said the source, BRN operatives would continue to discredit the talks with MARA Patani by carrying out armed operations in districts designated as "safety zones."
'The real BRN'
Thai government representatives have met at least five times with MARA Patani, an umbrella organization of separatist groups formed last year to take part in unofficial talks to explore ways to resolve the conflict that has claimed at least 6,700 lives since 2004.
Bangkok has yet to recognize the panel as an official negotiating partner.
"MARA Patani does not have any influence on combatants on the ground but, nevertheless, the Thai government will continue to engage them in the current arrangement of unofficial dialogue with the hope that the process will lure the real BRN to the table," a senior policy official in Bangkok told BenarNews.
"We believe the local Malay Muslims will eventually turn against the BRN if and when they become tired of the violence and see the separatist organization as one that is against peace," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
"As far as the world is concerned, the Thai government is the one who wants to talk peace and the BRN doesn't," he added.
'Links'
In a statement sent to BenarNews earlier this week, MARA Patani reiterated "its commitment to resolving [the] Patani conflict through [a] peace dialogue process with Thailand."
The statement was issued during a two-day "conference" attended by more than 60 people from Thailand and overseas "to review MARA Patani's activities and to determine its future political direction," it said. No further information was released.
MARA Patani lists its component members as BRN, the Patani Islamic Liberation Front (BIPP) two factions of Patani United Liberation Organization (PULO), and the Islamic Mujahideen Movement of Patani (GMIP).
In an interview last month, MARA Patani spokesman Abu Hafiz al Hakim told BenarNews that BRN was "dominant" on the panel and had six seats on its steering committee.
"In MARA there is BRN ... but there are also BRN [members] who are not willing to talk to the military. To us, this is actually BRN's internal issue and they have to sort it out," he said.
"There are certain people within MARA that have certain links with the mainstream BRN outside. Through these links, they are in touch with each other. ... This has happened so many times. For example, in 1991, BRN was talking with the 4th regional army, in a direct negotiation, but the negotiation was not [with] the main BRN ... only a faction of BRN militia."
'Heinous crimes'
For his part, a BRN combatant told BenarNews that his unit had not been instructed to cease operations.
"The only instruction we have received of late is to be extremely careful with collateral damage," he said, in reference to the innocent civilian bystanders getting caught up in violence.
Sunai Phasuk of Human Rights Watch blasted that comment.
"How can BRN leadership be taken seriously when they do not honor their own words? Over the past 12 years, BRN insurgents have blatantly violated the law of war by deliberately attacking civilians and using tactics that do not differentiate between military and civilian targets. Such heinous crimes must be stopped immediately," Sunai said.
Useng Doloh, a villager in Pattani province, told BenarNews that he wants more than a limited ceasefire in the Deep South.
"I do not want just safety zones in certain areas, but an all-out safety zone in Deep South," Useng said.
"I don't believe that MARA Patani has real power. MARA Patani is a group of old men who use the umbrella group as a bargaining chip to gain a chance to come home," he said, referring to the fact that many in the group live in exile.
"The [main stream] BRN does not accept MARA Patani," he said.
Razlan Rashid in Kuala Lumpur contributed to this report.
An earlier version of this report incorrectly gave Johor Bahru as the venue for the Dec. 19-21 talks.


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BENARNEWS- The wives of three men who disappeared under mysterious circumstances years ago – including a Thai lawyer who has been missing since March 2004 - appeared Monday before reporters in Bangkok to discuss their ongoing ordeals.
Angkhana Neelapaijit, the wife of lawyer Somchai Neelapaijit, joined Shui-Meng Ng and Pinnapa Preuksapan, the respective spouses of Laotian civil society leader Sombath Somphone and ethnic Karen activist Porlajee "Billy" Rakchongcharoen, for a news conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand.
Sombath, a winner of Asia's Magsaysay Award, disappeared in Laos in December 2012. Billy vanished in Thailand's Petchburi province in April 2014. The three wives believe their husbands were kidnapped.
"We are the pictures of pain and suffering. Suffering that nobody would understand, if it had not happened to their loved ones," Shui-Meng reporters.
Billy's wife shared her grief.
"After Billy was gone, I immediately became another person. Life has been difficult, I have to do everything possible to take care of five children and elderly parents," Pinnapa said. "I have to take care of the whole family and to be both a father and a mother to the children."
For someone who had never traveled to the city before her husband's disappearance, Pinnapa said she now spends much of her time away from home as she travels and tells her story.
The women said they decided to meet with reporters because they needed help from mainstream and social media in their campaign to raise awareness against forced disappearances.
Police acquitted in Somchai's abduction
"In 2012, the government of Yingluck Shinawatra paid compensation to my family. But the money did not help," Angkhana said.
Her husband chaired the Thai Muslim Lawyers' Association and was representing suspects from Thailand's predominantly Islamic Deep South when he vanished on the streets of Bangkok 12 years ago.
"Though it made my family more comfortable and we have a bigger house, it does not give us the truth about what had happened," she said.
In March 2004, Somchai was handling a high-profile lawsuit alleging torture of Muslim suspects by police in the Deep South when he was pulled from his car on Ramkhamhaeng Road, never to be seen again.
In January 2006, the administration of then-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra acknowledged that government officials were involved in Somchai's abduction, according to Human Rights Watch. Despite that acknowledgment, five police officers who had been implicated in Somchai's abduction were acquitted of charges in December 2015 when the Thai Supreme Court ruled that evidence against them was too weak.
'Delay, denial, and cover up'
Eight years later, Sombath disappeared in Laos. Video footage showed Sombath's Jeep being stopped at a police checkpoint. He was herded into a white truck and taken away.
Police vowed to investigate, but Laotian authorities backtracked, claiming they could not confirm that Sombath was the man taken from the Jeep. No trace of Sombath or the Jeep have been found, Radio Free Asia, a sister entity of BenarNews, reported last week in a story marking the anniversary of his disappearance.
Marking the fourth anniversary of Sombath's disappearance, Human Rights Watch (HRW) challenged Vientiane's efforts in its investigation.
"Since the start, the Lao government's investigation of Sombath Somphone's disappearance has been a pattern of delay, denial, and cover-up," said Phil Robertson, HRW's deputy Asia director. "Four years on, Sombath's family is no closer to learning the truth about his fate than they were in the weeks after he went missing."
'Kindly do not forget us'
More recently, Billy was last seen in April 2014 near Kaeng Krachan National Park in Petchburi province, 100 miles (161 km) south of Bangkok.
Billy was expected to testify the next day as a witness for ethnic Karen farmers. He was helping the farmers who live in Pongluek-Bangkloy, a village near the national park, who were seeking compensation after park officials allegedly set fire to several homes in 2011.
"The most horrific fear of victims of forced disappearance is that their stories will be lost," Shui-Meng said. "So I want to appeal this to media and all in this place, kindly do not forget us."


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BENARNEWS- New amendments to Thailand's Computer Crime Act will allow government officials to further restrict free speech and retaliate against activists, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
Changes to the law governing cyber crimes likely will increase censorship, HRW said Wednesday in a statement. The Thai National Legislative Assembly adopted the amendments unanimously on Dec. 16.
HRW's statement focused on Articles 14(1) and (2), claiming they provide grounds for the government to prosecute people for any content that officials designate as false or distorted. The articles impose a maximum penalty of five years in prison and fines for convictions.
"Human Rights Watch has repeatedly raised concerns that Thai authorities, private companies and individuals often retaliate against those reporting alleged human rights violations by filing defamation lawsuits, accusing activists and victims of making false statements," the global rights watchdog said in its statement.
Gen. Prayuth Chan-o-cha, whose military government seized power in 2014, challenged critics' claims that the changes would violate free speech.
"No one wants to police social media because it's tiring," Prayuth said on Tuesday, according to the Thai news website Khaosod English. "Society should help protect each other and create peace."
'Sweeping power'
The junta had filed criminal charges against many critics who posted commentary on social media alleging corruption by government leaders, according to HRW.
"The Thai military government has now given itself sweeping power to monitor, search, and acquire information, invading people's privacy on a massive scale," said Brad Adams, the group's Asia director.
Articles 16(1) and (2) of the law state that the court can order information found to be false and having caused damage to other persons or the public to be removed from the Internet and deleted from computer systems, HRW said.
Arbitrary enforcement would have "dire consequences on research and reporting on contentious topics of public concern, including incidents related to serious state-sponsored rights violations, such as the 2003 'drugs war,' the 2010 violent political confrontations, and abusive counterinsurgency operations in the southern border provinces," HRW claimed.
'Amendments should be scrapped'
The statement from HRW echoed concerns raised by CPJ on the day the legislature approved the amendments.
The amendments seek to harmonize Thai law with technological advances, but, in doing so, includes provisions that invite abuse, the committee said.
"Thailand's cybercrime law was already a grave threat to journalists who work online. These vague and overbroad amendments will only accentuate the danger," Shawn Crispin, CPJ's senior Southeast Asia representative said in a statement issued Dec. 16.
"Thailand's military government consistently conflates commentary with criminal activity, and these amendments will give officials even wider powers to crush dissent. These amendments should be scrapped, and any future changes to the law should prioritize explicit guarantees of press freedom and freedom of expression," he added.
Lese-Majeste
CPJ claims the junta has broadened Internet censorship since the death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej on Oct. 13.
The Associated Press reported that Thai authorities had blocked access to 1,300 websites in the month following the king's death over content deemed anti-royal – more sites than were censored in the previous five years combined.
Previous CPJ research showed that officials had used the cybercrime law to enforce the nation's strict Lese-Majeste anti-royal defamation law.
Earlier this month, a Thai activist was arrested after he allegedly shared a BBC News profile of King Maha Vajiralongkorn that was published by its London-based Thai-language service, BBC Thai, after he ascended the throne on Dec. 1. The activist, Jatupat "Pai" Boonpattararaksa, was the first person charged under Lese-Majeste since the new king succeeded his father.


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BENARNEWS- More than a 1,000 children born to Thai parents – most of whom fled from or migrated without proper papers from Thailand's insurgency-wracked Deep South – are living in Malaysia as stateless people, a former rebel leader told BenarNews.
This week, an official in charge of an agency that administers the Deep South traveled to the neighboring Malaysian state of Kelantan for talks with the Thai consul-general on how to help these stateless boys and girls, as well as their parents, gain access to basic rights including health care and schooling.
Suphanat Sirantawineti, secretary-general of the Southern Border Provinces Administration Center (SBPAC), spoke to reporters after meeting with Paitoon Songkaeo, Thailand's consul-general in the state capital of Kota Bharu, on Tuesday.
"Initially, SBPAC and the Thai consulate in Kota Bharu will organize a mobile team to be able to provide assistance to Thai groups in Malaysia. SBPAC will be bringing public health and medical teams from Thailand to give [these people] public health services," he said.
Suphanat said the services would be free to Thais living and working in Malaysia.
"Many come from impoverished backgrounds and some have children who were born in Malaysia but are undocumented because their births have not been registered anywhere."
He did not say how many undocumented Thai expats were living Malaysia, but he said some were fugitives from justice.
"Some have been linked to national security cases and some have warrants out for their arrest. Some believed that they were going to be charged, and fled to Malaysia," he said.
"As a result, we have a situation in which their children and family members are not able to access health care, education and other services," Suphanat added.
The SBPAC is an inter-department agency that oversees development and civilian affairs for some 1.7 million people in the conflict-riddled Deep South, a predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking region where a decades-long separatist insurgency has claimed nearly 7,000 lives since 2004.
Beside free medical checkups, the mobile teams would offer Thai workers the opportunity to register for work permits so they could stay in Malaysia legally, according to Paitoon.
"The consulate-general makes three road trips a year to visit Thai communities working throughout Malaysia. We provide a wide range of services, from passports to issuing birth certificates to Thai children born in Malaysia," Paitoon said.
'Will help strengthen trust'
Ma-ae Sa-a (alias Haji Sama-ae Thanam), a former leader of the Patani United Liberation Organization (PULO), one of the insurgent groups in the Deep South, praised the effort by the SBPAC to help solve the problem.
"This is a good thing. ... This initiative will help strengthen trust," Ma-ae said.
He said he had compiled a survey of Thais living in Malaysia which showed that there were "over a thousand stateless children and youths" there, telling BenarNews that he had handed a list of these people to Thai officials.
Ma-ae said the reasons for not properly documenting children include that some parents had been working legally but did not take time off to register the birth, while others were working illegally or were fleeing legal charges, and did not wish to take any risks by showing up at government agencies to register their child's birth.
Ma-ae was released from a Thai prison last year after serving 18 years on charges of treason.


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BENARNEWS- Officers are hunting for more suspected hackers who breached some 30 government websites as a show of dissent against Thailand's newly amended Computer Crime Act, national police said Tuesday.
Police have charged one of nine suspects detained thus far, Natdanai Kongdee, 19, on allegations that he was involved in the hacking, among other offenses.
"Natdanai is a real culprit. Besides cracking data, he'd buy and sell guns on the Internet," Pol. Gen. Chakthip Chaichinda told a press briefing on Monday. The suspect was charged with sabotage, computer crimes, possessing illegal weapons and possessing drugs.
Also on Monday, Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan told reporters nine people had been taken into custody for questioning since the law was changed on Dec. 16.
The act was passed unanimously despite opposition from free speech groups. The next morning, nearly 30 government websites were hacked.
Facebook group "Citizens Against Single Gateway: Thailand Internet Firewall," which opposes the Thai junta's call for a single gateway for internet traffic, urged supporters to launch a series of cyber-attacks.
"The anti-computer crimes police are interrogating him [Natdanai]. He hacked many government's websites. We are interrogating those who are involved and we will arrest all who are involved," Pol. Maj. Gen. Piyapan Pingmaung, the deputy spokesman for national police, told BenarNews on Tuesday.
Activists complain
Last week, U.S.-based rights advocacy groups Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) issued statements criticizing the changes to the act as paving the way for Thailand's military government to further restrict free speech and retaliate against activists.
CPJ said the junta has broadened internet censorship since the death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej on Oct. 13. Thai authorities had blocked access to 1,300 websites in the month following the king's death over content deemed anti-royal – more sites than were censored in the previous five years combined, according to the Associated Press.
At the time, Prime Minister Gen. Prayuth Chan-o-cha, who has led the government since the 2014 junta takeover, challenged claims by critics that the amendments would violate free speech rights.
"No one wants to police social media because it's tiring," Prayuth said at the time.
No SSL
In a related development on Tuesday, Thai officials denied that the government had acquired facilities to breach the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), which is the standard security technology for establishing an encrypted link between a web server and a browser. The SSL is an industry standard used by millions of websites to protect online transactions with customers.
"We did not purchase such a device. I control the purchase, there was not such purchase," Deputy Prime Minister Prawit told reporters in Bangkok.
The Citizens Against Single Gateway Facebook page recently alleged that the Royal Thai Army had purchased four decryption devices. The group claimed it had hacked the information about the purchase from the army's website.
"In early 2016, we established cyber warfare center. We purchased some equipment, but no SSL cracking devices. The claim was bogus," Gen. Chalermchai Sithiwat, Army Commander-in-Chief, told reporters Tuesday.


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BENARNEWS- After two years of exploratory talks, Thailand's junta and a panel representing southern rebel groups have yet to agree on a limited ceasefire seen as a prerequisite for formal negotiations.
In an article marking the second anniversary of the current peace process, a spokesman for rebel negotiators said he expected the two sides to hammer out some kind of agreement on so-called "safety zones" by June 2017.
"It is expected that within the first half of 2017 the Safety Zones will be put on trial as a pilot project at a designated area," MARA Patani spokesman Abu Hafiz al-Hakim wrote in an article published Dec. 24 on the website of Deep South Watch, a think-tank based in Thailand's predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking southern border region.
Sources on the Thai government side appear less confident that a limited ceasefire can be struck within that timeframe. They say it depends on whether hardcore members of Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) – the largest and most powerful rebel group in the Deep South –will come on board and back it.
Speaking to BenarNews, a Thai security official tasked with analyzing the dialogue between Thailand and MARA Patani said there was "no set time frame" on a limited ceasefire.
"Abu Hafiz would like to see this idea materialize within the first six months of 2017. There is no guarantee that this could be achieved. It all depends if [MARA] can get the armed militants to go along with the idea," the official told BenarNews on condition of anonymity.
The safety zones have been touted as a confidence-building measure and a first step toward opening official peace talks for the first time since December 2013, when a civilian government ruled Thailand.
Still early
MARA officials have countered criticism that the panel does not represent the BRN rank-and-file by saying it negotiates on behalf of at least three of the group's factions.
On Wednesday, Abu Hafiz told BenarNews that the two sides had not officially agreed on a preliminary ceasefire in a still-to-be-determined area of the Deep South.
"Nothing has been decided yet," he said. "It is just my expectation based on recent developments."
In his article, the spokesman said at least six rounds of meetings by technical teams or full panels representing the two sides took place in 2016, and were facilitated by Malaysia.
He also mentioned that, in recent talks, MARA had asked the Thai government for protection for members of the rebel panel, as well as the release of insurgents in Thai custody, among other confidence-building measures.
But the Thai security official called releasing rebel prisoners as a condition for advancing the peace process "extremely tough to achieve."
"To me, the negotiation process is still in its early stage. Success which is concrete is yet to be seen," said Kasturi Mahkota, a leader of the Patani United Liberation Organization (PULO), one of the rebel groups represented on MARA.
Moreover, implementing safety zones could backfire on MARA, he warned.
"For me, the issue of safety zones is very sensitive and if it is not specified and discussed well, it may provide an advantage to Thailand ...," Kasturi told BenarNews. "This process will be heavily opposed by insurgents on the ground, and will only be accepted by a handful of the community, among them, NGOs, academics and interested parties."
The 'real BRN'
This year's talks have taken place against a backdrop of ongoing killings in the region, where a separatist conflict has simmered since the 1960s.
Since Sept. 2, when the teams met in Kuala Lumpur and agreed to discuss safety zones at future meetings, 32 people have been killed and 69 others injured in shootings and bombings carried out by suspected rebels. Altogether more than 6,700 people have been killed in violence associated with the insurgency since 2004, according to Deep South Watch.
Another Thai official, a senior army intelligence officer who closely monitors the peace efforts, suggested that Thailand could afford to keep the talks going indefinitely.
"y talking to MARA Patani, we are hoping that the real BRN – the people who control the insurgents on the ground – will eventually come to their senses and join the process. We feel that time is on our side – meaning the longer it drags on, the more pressure will be applied to the BRN to reconsider their policy of not talking...," the intelligence officer told BenarNews, also on condition of anonymity.
"[T]he idea is to stretch out this dialogue process with MARA Patani long enough for the real BRN to change their mind and come to the negotiating table," he said.


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BENARNEWS- Thailand's cabinet has passed a resolution that could allow as many as 80,000 stateless people living in the country to apply for Thai citizenship, according to a government official and the U.N.'s refugee agency.
Thailand has a total registered population of 438,821 stateless people – those who are not considered citizens of any nation due to different circumstances, the agency says. According to the International Observatory on Statelessness, the exact number of stateless people in Thailand is unknown, but likely ranges between 2 to 3.5 million.
Under the resolution adopted Dec. 7 by Thailand's military government, 80,000 people – mostly children of migrants and displaced people – would be eligible to apply for naturalization.
"Some 80,000 children and youths will benefit from the cabinet resolution that was passed recently. This will reduce the statelessness in Thailand," Grisada Boonrach, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Interior, told BenarNews on Friday.
Thailand's stateless population includes Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar and members of the Karen, Mon, Hmong and other hill tribes, who cannot vote, buy land, get legal jobs or travel freely, according to the website of the International Observatory.
To obtain citizenship, Grisada said, eligible applicants will need to meet one of the following criteria: they were born in Thailand to parents from ethnic minority groups, registered by the Ministry of Interior, and have lived in Thailand for no less than 15 years; or they were born in Thailand to members of foreign groups and have graduated from university.
If they have not graduated yet, the ministry shall consider each case on an individual basis, Grisada explained.
Abandoned children whose parents are unknown can apply too if they are certified as such by a relevant agency under the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, and have lived in Thailand for no less than 10 years, he said.
'I hope my children's turn will come'
The Bangkok office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) lauded the latest move by Thailand to open a path to citizenship for tens of thousands of stateless people.
According to UNHCR, Thailand has granted citizenship to more than 23,000 stateless people since 2012, as part of a worldwide campaign to end statelessness by 2024.
"This recent resolution builds on measures announced in the past few years by expanding the scope of eligibility and clarifying the criteria and procedures involved. They show the Royal Thai Government's strong political will to reduce statelessness among children," Ruvendrini Menikdiwela, UNHCR's Representative in Thailand, said in a statement on Dec. 29.
In 2016, according to UNHCR, the government asked all districts to identify and give legal status to registered and eligible stateless students, which could translate into temporary or permanent residency, if not Thai citizenship.
"Many stateless people and those at risk of statelessness in Thailand come from areas where national borders have changed, leaving their nationality in question," according to an article published by the U.N.'s refugee agency in November.
"Some belong to 'hill tribes' living in remote areas with limited access to information about nationality procedures and who, in the past, lived without registration or identity documentation."
The agency has been involved in a project in Chiang Rai, a northern province, to help stateless people acquire documents needed so they can study or work in Thailand, as well as overcome the bureaucratic hurdles in applying for citizenship. Through the project, Manee, a 39-year-old woman from the Lahu hill tribe (pictured), obtained citizenship and a national identity card in October, according to the article.
"Now that I have my card, I hope my children's turn will come," Manee told UNHCR. "They need to have DNA tests to obtain Thai nationality so that they can travel to places they couldn't before."


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BENARNEWS- In a visit to the Deep South on Friday, Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha told residents that his government was determined to end violence in the region and had made significant progress in exploratory peace talks with rebel group representatives.
After flying to Narathiwat, Prayuth and members of his cabinet met behind closed doors with local officials, then delivered packages of basic foodstuffs to some 2,000 flood-hit residents.
"In 2017, the violence must ease and eventually end," he told local people at the offices of the Ra-ngae district government.
"We are negotiating for peace. We are not at war, or talking with an opponent, as some media outlets have said. We simply have different thoughts. Now, we have made significant progress. Everything must be clear in 2017 for the security of the Deep South," he said.
Negotiators for Thailand's military government and MARA Patani, a panel representing Deep South rebel groups, have held a series of exploratory talks over the last two years but have yet to agree on a limited cease fire seen as a prerequisite for formal negotiations.
'Step by step'
The talks have taken place against a backdrop of ongoing killings in the Muslim-majority, Malay-speaking region, where a separatist insurgency has simmered since the 1960s. At least 6,700 people have been killed in violence linked to the conflict since it rekindled in 2004.
"Regarding the violence problem, we need to go step by step. Whatever issues we differ on, we need to adapt. We need to get rid of the elements that caused conflict," Prayuth said.
"The government is determined to fix all the problems. Seventy million people and the minority must walk side-by-side, not just the minority resists us and we reject them. Otherwise, Thai society cannot be peaceful," he said, using an approximate number for the population of the majority Buddhist Kingdom.
In April, the Thai government abruptly dropped its long-time chief negotiator in the talks and rejected Terms of Reference that had been agreed by technical teams from both sides.
At the time, Prayuth said the talks were not successful because the two sides had different goals.
Moreover, he said, Thailand could not negotiate with members of banned groups.
"[T]he government cannot bargain with them using domestic laws. Thailand cannot talk to wrongdoers," he said.
Six die in floods
Ra-ngae district is one of 13 districts in Narathiwat that have flooded since heavy rain started on Dec. 29, and 9,528 of its residents have been affected, Arun Srisai, the district chief, reported to the prime minister Friday.
To date, nine provinces in southern Thailand remain flooded, affecting more than 100,000 households, a disaster prevention official said.
Overnight Thursday to Friday, run-off from a deforested mountain range caused flash floods in parts of Nakhon Si Thammarat, Pattalung and Narathiwat, accounting for a total of six deaths in these three provinces.
"The floods took place in nine provinces due to the third spike in heavy rain since year-end. The troubles include heavy rains and water run-off, rough seas and a landslide," Chatchai Promlert, director-general of disaster prevention at the Interior Ministry, told BenarNews Friday.


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BENARNEWS- A request by Thailand's new king for some changes to a draft constitution regarding the monarchy will not affect elections expected for later this year, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha told reporters Tuesday.
The draft constitution passed a referendum in August 2016 and was sent to King Maha Vajiralongkorn for his endorsement after he assumed the throne on Dec. 1, following the death of his father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, in mid-October.
Prayuth said he learned of the request for a few changes to the junta-backed charter from palace officials on Monday.
"The royal words included three or four items that we need to amend accordingly to his power, and they are not related to the rights and freedom of the people," Prayuth told media after a weekly cabinet meeting in Bangkok.
He did not disclose details of the requested changes.
A government document shows that King Vajiralongkorn wants the constitution changed to reflect that the monarch would not have to appoint a regent whenever he travels overseas, according to the Reuters news service. The new king has spent much of his adult life in Germany, and flew home when his father's frail health deteriorated sharply in October.
In other news related to the monarchy in Thailand, where a strict law known as Lese-Majeste guards against royal defamation, on Tuesday a petition signed by more than 3,000 people called for the release of a student activist who was the first charged under the law since the new king took the throne.
During the final few years of King Bhumibol's 70-year reign, dozens of Thais were arrested over allegations of perceived slights against the royals. In the case of the latest suspect, Jatupat Boonpattararaksa, he was taken into custody and accused of Lese-Majeste for sharing a BBC News profile of King Vajiralongkorn on his Facebook page.
'Politics are advancing'
Prayuth said the deadline for approving the constitution was next month, although the amendments to it would take a few more months.
"It is still within the time frame of Feb. 6. We will amend the copy and re-propose the amendment to the king. All processes will take two to three months to get done," the prime minister said.
"The politics are advancing. The constitution will be pushed and after the royal cremation, the election campaign will be on with elections in late 2017, and we will have a new government in 2018," Prayuth added.  King Bhumibol is to be cremated in October, one year after his death.
The royal palace did not say if King Maha Vajiralongkorn would endorse the constitution without the requested changes.
The draft constitution seeks an appointed senate with seats reserved for military commanders, limits on parliamentary authority, enhanced powers for non-elected state agencies and a provision for a non-elected prime minister.
Prayuth took power following a coup against a civilian-led government in May 2014, and promised fresh elections in 2017. He presented a road map listing a time frame leading to the elections including key issues including approving the constitution and establishing election-related regulations.
In recent weeks, Meechai Ruchuphan, the chief of a junta-appointed Constitution Drafting Committee, said elections might instead take place in March or April 2018 because of the slow progress.
Lese-Majeste suspect
Meanwhile, supporters of royal defamation suspect Jatupat Boonpattararaksa, better known as "Pai Dao Din," went to the National Human Rights Commissioner's office on Tuesday to submit a petition seeking help in efforts to free him on bail.
Jatupat was arrested on Dec. 3 for sharing the BBC article on Facebook that was deemed offensive to the new King. Jatupat was released on bail two days later, but rearrested on Dec. 22 and his bail was revoked.
"The court has ordered him to be detained and said Pai did not show respect to law enforcement. He did not remove the earlier controversial BBC article," Pai's lawyer Krisadang Nutcharas told BenarNews at the time.
About 3,300 people signed a petition on change.org regarding Pai's right to bail, Rangsiman Rome, a member of the Platform of Concerned Citizens, said Tuesday.
"In this case, a committee has opened an inquiry into it," said Angkhana Neelapaijit, a human rights commissioner who received the petition.
"Pai's father has also submitted a letter of complaint on unfair bail rejection. We will take a look at the letters from all sides and we will try our best under the authority we have but we cannot interfere with the court's power."


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BENARNEWS- Thailand's National Legislative Assembly (NLA) voted overwhelmingly Friday for constitutional amendments to expand the powers of a new king whose signature is crucial for enacting a junta-backed draft charter.
The vote in favor of changing an interim constitution, which went into effect after the military seized power in a coup in 2014, was 228 to 0 with three members of the 231-seat assembly abstaining, according to a live telecast from the NLA chamber.
The NLA was required to pass amendments to the interim charter before it could make changes to the draft constitution, which King Maha Vajiralongkorn has requested. Now, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha can submit a revised draft charter for the monarch's signature within 30 days, according to officials.
The king, who took the throne on Dec. 1 following the death of his father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, in October, had reviewed a copy of the draft charter but did not sign off on it, requesting that parts dealing with the powers of the monarch be changed before he put his signature on it, Thai media reports said.
A majority of Thais voted for the draft charter in a referendum in August 2016. The draft constitution seeks an appointed senate with seats reserved for military commanders, limits on parliamentary authority, enhanced powers for non-elected state agencies and a provision for a non-elected prime minister.
The proposed changes would allow the 64-year-old monarch – who has spent much time abroad during his adult life and has a home in Germany – to travel overseas without having to appoint a regent to rule the kingdom every time he leaves Thailand, Wissanu Kreau-ngam, deputy prime minister for Legal Affairs, said during Friday's NLA session.
The amendments to the interim constitution also would give the prime minister and his government leeway in amending the draft charter, in case the king does not agree with it, Wissanu said.
"The amendment includes, the amendment of Section 2 of the interim charter 2014 on the royal regent appointment and Section 39/1 to empower the prime minister to fetch the draft constitution from the King for amendment," Wissanu said.
When Prayuth announced earlier this week that the king had requested constitutional changes regarding his royal powers, this provoked doubts that the process of amending the charter could further delay the junta's proposed road map for returning Thailand to democracy. But the prime minister suggested Tuesday that this would not affect his government's plan to stage national elections in late 2017.
"The politics are advancing. The constitution will be pushed, and, after the royal cremation, the election campaign will be on with elections in late 2017, and we will have a new government in 2018," Prayuth said, referring to a state funeral planned for King Bhumibol this coming October.


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BENARNEWS- A man described by Thai authorities as a key ideological figure in the Deep South insurgency has died in exile in Malaysia.
Sapae-ing Baso was the de facto leader of the secretive Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), the largest and most heavily armed of insurgents groups that have waged a separatist conflict for decades in Thailand's predominantly Muslim southern border region, according to Thai military sources.
In November, he was named chairman of BRN's governing council, the Dewan Pimpinan Parti, a Thai security source told BenarNews at the time, leaking a list of DPP members that included Sapae-ing's name.
The former head master of an Islamic school in the Deep South province of Yala, Sapae-ing died of complications from diabetes in Malaysia on Jan. 10, one of his seven sons told BenarNews on Tuesday. The 86-year-old, who was also known to Thai officials as Safie Basoe, died in the Malaysian state of Terengganu, according to a report in the Bangkok Post.
In a surprise move, Thai Prime Minister and junta leader Prayuth Chan-o-cha on Sunday expressed condolences and offered to help his family, whose members live in the Deep South, repatriate his remains, the Post reported.
A day later, hundreds of mourners turned out for a prayer service in Sapae-ing's memory at his old school, Thammawittaya Foundation School, in Yala, said his son, Salma Baso.
"I heard that my father died of diabetes on the morning of Jan. 10, in Malaysia, so I told teachers at the Thammawittaya Foundation School. ... Alumni agreed to perform posthumous praying. The military also called us for confirmation of his death," Salma told BenarNews at his home in neighboring Pattani province.
Influential
Sapae-ing was considered "a spiritual leader" among the southern rebels, according to active and retired Thai military sources. He fled to neighboring Malaysia in 2004 when Thai authorities issued an arrest warrant for alleged insurgent-related activities.
"The key ideological figure is Sapae-ing Baso. Despite his age, his ideology has a strong influence on his disciples who are active in the south," retired army Lt. Gen. Nanthadej Meksawat, former chief of special operation in southern Thailand, told BenarNews in March 2015 before Thailand opened informal talks with the rebels, which have been facilitated by Malaysia.
BRN is one of several southern rebel groups and factions represented by MARA Patani, a panel representing insurgents in exploratory peace talks with the Thai government. But not all of them – especially hardcore BRN members – are on board with efforts to negotiate an end to a war that has killed more than 6,700 people in the Deep South since 2004.
On Tuesday, Malaysia-based MARA spokesman Abu Hafiz Al-Hakim issued a statement conveying condolences to the family of Sapae-ing, who was known in Malaysia as Shafi'I bin Abdul Rahman.
"We mourn the loss of a fighter ace and education leader who has contributed and sacrificed to religion, race and nation," Abu Hafiz said. "We pray that his soul be blessed by Allah Almighty and placed in the higher tomb with the prophets, martyrs and righteous people. Ameen."
'There are BRN members who want peace'
Reacting to the news, Gen. Aksara Kerdpol, Thailand's chief negotiator in the informal talks, said Sapae-ing's death could draw more dovish members of the BRN to support these negotiations.
"It may encourage more BRN members to join the peace talks because there are BRN members who want peace," Aksara told reporters Sunday, according to local media.
Another security official said Sapae-ing's death could spur more violence by hardcore BRN fighters.
"The short-term happenings will be more attacks and violence by the military wing of BRN because they need a morale boost and to showcase their unimpaired potential by the loss of a leader," the official told BenarNews on condition of anonymity.
"In the longer term, I think there will be a power wrangle among the leading figures. There are rifts within the BRN, especially after the opening of peace talks in 2013. Some wanted to fully engage in talks, but some others wanted to fight because they thought they got the upper hand," he added, referring to an earlier round of formal peace talks which stalled in December 2013.
A rebel who also spoke to BenarNews on condition of anonymity said Sapae-ing had been BRN's "spiritual leader all along.
"There will be a successor. Wait and you will see new daring moves and new policies of BRN," the insurgent said.
A son's denial
Sapae-ing's son, however, denied that his father was a rebel leader.
"First and foremost, the media should not label my father as the BRN leader because he is not that, as he was alleged. Our family and villagers can vouch [for that]," Salma told BenarNews.
"The attempts to solve the Deep South troubles will not be successful if the government keeps thinking that Sapae-ing Baso is the leader, because that is gravely wrong. But I admit that we haven't clarified the fact or talked to the media ...," he said, adding that his father left behind a wife and nine children who live peacefully in Yarang, a district of Pattani.
An earlier version gave wrong information about Sapae-ing Baso's age.


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BENARNEWS- Usman was just 4 when he was hurt in a shooting that killed his father in Thailand's insurgency-stricken Deep South.
The boy's injuries were minor but, four years on, the attack traumatizes him.
"It feels like yesterday. It continues to frighten me, and I'm scared," Usman, now 8 years old, told BenarNews, asking his last name not be published.
He is among thousands of children who have been scarred or afflicted in some way by a decades-long separatist conflict in Thailand's predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking southern border region, according to local special education officials and human rights advocates.
Usman, who is from Yala province, was among youngsters, including some with physical disabilities, who attended a recent celebration of Children's Day at a special education school in neighboring Pattani province.
"All I want for Children's Day is to be with my mother as long as I can, and I hope no such tragic incident is inflicted on anybody else. I hope that the sound of bombs and the sound of gun-fighting ceases, and I hope that one day I can forget that incident," he said.
Special children
Nearly 6,700 people have been killed in violence associated with the conflict since 2004.
The war has orphaned at least 6,000 children and made widows out of at least 3,000 women, according to the Southern Women's Peace Network to Stop Violence, a local NGO.
Since January 2014 alone, 89 people under the age of 18 have been killed, and another 478 have been injured in shootings or bombings in the Deep South, according to Duay Jai (with Heart) Group, a human rights advocacy group.
In addition, some 5,000 other children in the Deep South have been born with disabilities, according to Surat Boonrit, the director of special education programs in Pattani, who organized the Children's Day event on Jan. 13.
"The children who are directly affected by the ongoing violence received special attention from authorities, more so than ordinary children. This special attention is extended to the parents as well," Surat told BenarNews.
"I am very happy to be part of this effort to bring some happiness to these children. They seem happy. Their parents, too. They received gifts and were allowed to demonstrate their skills," Surat said, choking back tears.
Artistic ambition
More than 300 children from 12 districts, accompanied by their parents, took part in the day-long celebration.
Asiyah Nasae (pictured), 6, who was born without arms, demonstrated her drawing skills at one of the center's booths.
"My father sometimes carries me and sometimes I hop on one leg," Asiyah told BenarNews. "If I have a wheelchair, I can help myself."
She expressed the wish that she be awarded a scholarship so she could prolong her education in the arts as well as "get a wheelchair so my father can push me to school."


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BENARNEWS- The daughter-in-law of former Lao prime minister Thongsing Thammavong distanced herself Tuesday from rumored ties to an alleged Lao drug dealer arrested last week in Thailand, saying a photo showing her and Thammavong's son together with crime boss Xaysana Keopimpha was  taken "by accident."

The photo, which has circulated widely on Facebook pages following Xaysana's Jan. 19 arrest, shows only a casual social connection among the three, Sommaly Thammavong told Radio Free Asia's (RFA) Lao Service, a sister entity of BenarNews.

"We have not done any business with him, and we didn't know what he was involved in," Thammavong said. 

"We met him by accident and had photos taken occasionally at parties or at weddings," Thammavong, the wife of the former prime minister's son Dethsongkam Thammavong, said.

"We each earn our living in different ways."

Many in Laos suspect closer connections between Xaysana, the alleged leader of a major methamphetamine distribution network in the ASEAN region, and the Thammavongs, though, a legal expert living in Laos told RFA.

"The photo shows that they are close friends, and the public believes they have close ties," RFA's source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"Is it really possible that they knew nothing about Xaysana's background or the nature of his work before they allowed themselves to be photographed with him," he asked.

"[Xaysana] was arrested in Thailand because the police there know that he is protected in Laos by powerful political figures, and that law enforcement in the country is weak."

'Enormous assets in Laos'

Speaking to the press on Jan. 20 following Xaysana's arrest the day before at Thailand's Suvarnabhumi International Airport, Thai police Maj. Gen. Sommai Kongwisaisuk thanked Lao law-enforcement authorities for providing information that helped lead to the arrest.

"Lao authorities said to us that if we couldn't arrest him here, they wouldn't be able to do anything in Laos."

"Xaysana has enormous assets in Laos," Kongwisaisuk, chief of Thailand's Narcotics Suppression Bureau, said.

"I don't know what's going on over there."

Prior to Xaysana's arrest, Thai police in 2016 took into custody four members of Xaysana's drug network, seizing more than 5 million methamphetamine, or yaba, pills, Thai officials told reporters at a press briefing on Jan. 20.

The arrests and subsequent investigation led finally to the Jan. 19 arrest of Xaysana and three associates after they arrived in Bangok following a visit to the southern Thai resort town of Phuket, Thai officials said.
Reached by telephone for comment, residents in the Lao capital Vientiane declined to discuss the case, saying they feared their conversations were being monitored.


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BENARNEWS- The defense phase of Thailand's largest human-trafficking trial opened this week with scores of witnesses expected to testify, including a three-star army general who is among more than 100 defendants.
The trial – which could last two years – involved 90 defendants when it opened in March 2016, but that figure has since increased to 102. They include military and police personnel as well as government officials from southern Thailand who are accused of involvement in a transnational human-smuggling ring.
During the case's arraignment phase in November 2015, lawyers said they would call as many as 406 witnesses after the trial got under way.
Wednesday featured testimony from an alleged kingpin of the trafficking ring, Pajjuban Aungkachotephan, (alias Ko Tong), a wealthy former chief executive of the government of Satun, a province on Thailand's Andaman Sea coast.
Authorities have accused Pajjuban, the owner of resorts on the island of Lipe, of being the mastermind of the ring, charges which he denied on the stand during the second day of the trial's defense phase.
"Because I bow to no one, there are some who hate me – military officials or police officers. I suspect they are forced to press charges against me," Pajjuban told the court, insinuating that he had been framed.
Journalists covering Wednesday's hearing were confined to a side room in the courthouse, where they watched the deliberations live via closed-circuit TV.
The defense is expected to rest its case sometime in February. Eight hearings are scheduled so far through Feb. 10 at the Bangkok North criminal court, a lawyer told BenarNews. A verdict in the landmark case is expected in late March, attorney Somporn Musika said.
The southern provinces were the focus of a crackdown against human traffickers launched by the Thai junta in May 2015, following the discovery of 32 graves in illegal jungle camps near the border with Malaysia. The burial spots were believed to contain the remains of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar and Bangladeshis who had been smuggled into the country, authorities said at the time.
The crackdown included a maritime blockade that prevented smugglers' boats from landing in Thailand. This forced thousands of undocumented Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants to come ashore in neighboring Malaysia and Indonesia that month.
Bullfighting
While testifying on Wednesday, defendant Pajjuban denied that he was guilty of 13 charges, including human trafficking.
Authorities have alleged that he was involved in human trafficking with former Army Lt. Gen. Manas Kongpaen, saying that Pajjuban's associates at one point wired 14 million baht (U.S. $397,000) to the general.
Pajjuban testified that he didn't know Manas very well but had met him on at least one occasion.
"I once saw Manas at a bullfighting event and I then met him at a hotel. I greeted him as he is a senior official and we talked about trading fighting bulls," Pajjuban told the court.
He referred during his testimony to a fellow defendant, Banjong Pongpol (also known as Ko Jong), a former official in Padang Besar, a sub-district of Songkhla province. The jungle graves were located in area of the sub-district known as Khao Khaew.
"Banjong called me when his friend visited my neighborhood, asking for recommendations for sight-seeing," Pajjuban said, adding that any phone calls between them were in no way linked to the 13 trafficking charges against him.
When a prosecutor cross-examined him on whether he knew about Khao Khaew, Pajjuban replied,
"I don't know Khao Khaew. I have never been there."


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BENARNEWS- Military-ruled Thailand was among Asia-Pacific countries that performed the worst in fighting corruption last year, anti-graft watchdog Transparency International (TI) said Wednesday in issuing its annual rankings of nations.
Thailand's rating plummeted by 25 points on TI's Corruption Perceptions Index for 2016, compared with its ranking for 2015.
Elsewhere in Southeast Asia, Malaysia and Indonesia saw declines in their index rankings, as did the South Asian nations of Bangladesh and India. The index measures the depth of corruption in the public sectors of nations across the globe.
"Poor performance can be attributed to unaccountable governments, lack of oversight, insecurity and shrinking space for civil society, pushing anti-corruption action to the margins in those countries," Berlin-based Transparency International said about the Asia-Pacific region in a statement accompanying the publication of its latest rankings.
"High-profile corruption scandals, in addition to everyday corruption issues, continue to undermine public trust in government, the benefits of democracy and the rule of law."
Thailand, which was taken over by the military in a coup nearly three years ago, ranked 101 out of 176 nations surveyed by the watchdog in 2016. The previous year, it stood at No. 76 out of 168 nations surveyed.
A country ranked No. 1 is considered by TI to be the least corrupt in the world. This year, that honor went to Denmark and New Zealand, which tied for No. 1 out of 176 countries.
Apart from ranking each country, the index assigns each country a score – with 100 the best score – to gauge its performance in fighting corruption. TI gave Thailand a score of 35, down from 38 least year.
"Thailand's new constitution, while it places significant focus on addressing corruption, entrenches military power and unaccountable government, undermining eventual return to democratic civilian rule," the report said, adding, "There is a clear absence of independent oversight and rigorous debate."
'We are failing'
Bangladesh saw a six-point drop in its rankings. It was ranked among the world's most corrupt countries, and rated the worst for corruption in South Asia, according to TI.
The NGO ranked Bangladesh 145th in 2016, compared with its rank of 139th in 2015. Bangladesh also scored 26 in its efforts to fight graft, up one notch from last year.
"There is nothing to be happy with Bangladesh's position in the corruption scenario. We are basically stacked in a certain position. We are failing to change the situation," Sultana Kamal, chairperson of the Bangladesh office of Transparency International, told a news conference in Dhaka on Wednesday.
Neighboring India, South Asia's largest country, dropped three points on the TI rankings. It ranked 79th and scored only 40 points out of 100, according to the index.
The performance landed India on TI's Watch List for 2017.
India's dismal performance "reiterates the state's inability to effectively deal with petty corruption as well as large-scale corruption scandals. The impact of corruption on poverty, illiteracy and police brutality shows that not only the economy is growing – but also inequality," the report said.
'Completely corrupt'
Transparency International also highlighted Malaysia's performance, noting the 1MDB financial scandal that has embroiled Prime Minister Najib Razak in corruption allegations.
"The Prime Minister's deficient response, and what role this will play in upcoming elections, is something to watch in 2017," TI said.
Najib has denied any wrongdoing over a controversy around nearly $700 million of money linked to state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad that was deposited into his private bank accounts in 2013. However, his government has gone after critics and proponents of clean government who have called for him to resign over the allegations.
"There is a Chinese proverb which says, 'if the upper beam is not straight, the lower ones will go aslant.' To keep a system 'clean' and effective, a country's top leader must send a clear signal that he/she is committed to eradicate corruption," Akhbar Satar, president of the Malaysian chapter of Transparency International, told BenarNews.
Malaysia dropped a point to be ranked at No. 55 on the 2016 index.
Commenting on Malaysia's latest index ratings, Cynthia Gabriel, executive director of the Malaysian NGO Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4), said she had expected Malaysia to fall more sharply.
"The solution to really combat corruption lies in political will. But that would be difficult to imagine in this current situation, given that the highest political leadership is completely corrupt and have curtailed civic rights at the expense of holding on to political power. All efforts at reforms are coming to naught," she told BenarNews.
Neighboring Indonesia fell two places, and ranked No. 90 in the world last year. Yet the country led by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, who was elected in 2014 on a platform of reforming Indonesian politics and eliminating corruption, scored only 37 out of 100 in anti-graft efforts, up one point from last year.
Hata Wahari and Ray Sherman in Kuala Lumpur, and Pulack Ghatack in Dhaka, contributed to this report.


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BENARNEWS- A Thai court will decide next month whether to jail a Chinese dissident on immigration violations despite his U.N. refugee status, his lawyer and a human rights advocate said.
A court in Chumphon province wrapped up a one-day trial for defendant Song Zhiyu on Wednesday, saying it would hand down a verdict on Feb. 16, attorney Kohnwilai Teppunkoonngam told BenarNews.
Song, 44, faces up to two years in a Thai prison if convicted on charges of entering Thailand illegally and staying on without proper papers. A member of the Falun Gong spiritual movement that is banned in China, Song escaped to Thailand in early 2014.
He had been imprisoned and enslaved in forced labor camps several times since 2008 in his home country as punishment for advocating for the rights of Falun Gong practitioners and writing online articles about persecution carried out by the communist party, according to the Coalition for the Rights of Refugees and Stateless Persons (CRSP), a Thai NGO that has provided him with legal representation.
Entering Thailand, he applied for and obtained refugee status from the Bangkok office of the U.N.'s refugee agency (UNHCR) in his effort to be resettled in a third country, Kohnwilai and Siwawong Suktawee, the project coordinator for CRSP, told BenarNews.
In March 2016, Song was arrested and charged with illegal entry into Thailand, after he and three other Chinese nationals tried to sail to Australia in a yacht, but their vessel took on water off Chumphon, which lies on the Gulf of Thailand coast.
"The boat Song took from Pattaya capsized at Pathew Bay. He called for help but officials arrested him. He had refugee status from the UNHCR," Song's lawyer, Kohnwilai, told Benar News.
Following his release on bail in June, Song told Radio Free Asia, a sister entity of BenarNews, that the United Nations in Bangkok formally had granted him refugee status.
Despite having been granted refugee status by the U.N., Thailand does not recognize such status, said Siwawong, the CRSP project coordinator.
"The UNHCR process to help him took long and he overstayed his visa," Siwawong said.
A regional spokeswoman for UNHCR declined to speak about the case of the Chinese design engineer and computer programmer who faces the prospect of prison time in Thailand.
"For confidentiality reasons we cannot comment on individual cases," Vivian Tan told BenarNews on Thursday via email.
"In Thailand, we work to sensitize the authorities that people with UNHCR-issued documents should not be arrested or detained. When we learn of arrests, our staff intervenes to try to secure their release as soon as possible," she added.
No safe haven
Song's case is one of several recently involving Chinese refugees or asylum seekers who have landed in trouble with law enforcement officials in Thailand. Local authorities last year detained a teenaged Chinese university student who was seeking political asylum in Thailand over an expired passport.
In November 2015, Thailand repatriated Chinese asylum seekers Jiang Yefei and Dong Guangping who had escaped alleged persecution back home, amid protests by the United Nations.
In 2016, RFA quoted activists as saying that many Chinese refugees in Thailand were effectively on the run within the kingdom's boundaries, "constantly moving around in a bid to evade arrest and deportation on illegal immigration charges."
A Thai police officer, who asked not to be named, said Thai authorities typically do not arrest or prosecute foreigners who have refuge status or are classified as "persons of concern" (POC).
"We agree we will leave the people with POC status alone, as they are awaiting resettlement, but in this case, Song blatantly broke the laws and it was widely reported. The authorities must react with arrest," the officer told BenarNews.
The three other Chinese who were detained after being rescued from the stranded vessel were a family: Li Xiaolong was piloting the boat and was traveling with his wife, Gu Qiao, and their son, Li Yisheng.
Thai authorities freed Li Xiaolong after he served time in jail for breaking Thailand's navigation laws, but his wife and child, who both had been granted refugee status by the U.N., are being held at the Bangkok Immigration Detention Center, Kohnwilai said.


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BENARNEWS- In the first such ruling since the new king took Thailand's throne, a military court Friday sentenced a man to 11 years and four months for violating the country's strict royal defamation laws and committing computer crime.
Defendant Burin Intin pleaded guilty to charges of breaking the Lese-Majeste law that guards against royal defamation as well as the Computer Crimes Act (CCA) for posting messages on social media deemed as insults to the monarchy, his lawyer told BenarNews.
Burin, 27, who is employed as a welder, was arrested April 27, 2016, while taking part in a street protest in Bangkok against a coup that brought Thailand's military government to power in May 2014. Two days later, authorities charged him with violating Lese-Majeste and the CCA, attorney Anon Nampa said.
Burin faced the prospect of a combined sentence of 22 years and eight months, but had this reduced by half because he pleaded guilty to both counts, the Associated Press reported.
While investigating the case, police found that he had sent a message to the mother of a protest organizer and had posted a comment on his Facebook page, both of which were deemed as insults against the royals.
The Lese-Majeste law, which carries a potential sentence of 15 years, prohibits the repetition or reproduction of defamatory content.
"The military court found he committed crimes on two occasions. The final sentence is 11 years and 4 months," Anon told Benar News by phone.
"He will not appeal, though he has the right," he said, adding that his client would seek a royal pardon.
Burin became the first person to be sent to prison under Lese-Majeste since King Maha Vajiralongkorn ascended to the throne on Dec.1 following the death in October of his father, King Bhumbol Adulyadej, who ruled over Thailand for 70 years.
So far under the new king's reign, one person has been charged under Lese-Majeste. An activist, Jatupat "Pai" Boonpattararaksa, has been jailed while he awaits trial for posting a BBC News profile of the new king that was seen by Thai authorities as defamatory and that was published on the day that Vajirarlongkorn became king.
Beginning with the May 2014 coup through Jan. 15, at least 73 people were charged with royal defamation, according to iLaw, a rights advocacy group.


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BENARNEWS- Six men arrested in Northeast Malaysia last month on suspicion of possessing bomb-making materials were involved in a bomb-plot targeting Thailand's insurgency-wracked Deep South, Thai security officials said Thursday.
Three of the six who were arrested on Jan. 15 in Pasir Mas in Kelantan state – just across the border from the Deep South – were Thai citizens who included a member of the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), one of the region's rebel groups, two Thai security officials told BenarNews on condition of anonymity.
But none were linked to the Islamic State as originally suspected by authorities in Kelantan, a Malaysian police source told BenarNews separately.
"We believe they were planning a plot to attack targets in Thailand's Deep South. Malaysia caught them with bomb-making materials," one Thai official told BenarNews, citing Malaysian police reports about materials that were seized from the suspects and information gathered by Thai intelligence.
The suspected BRN fighter is a leader of the armed separatist group based in Yala, one of the provinces in Thailand's predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking southern border region, the source said, citing a file of information compiled on the man.
"The man is Uzman Jeh-umong, 40 years of age. He has a record being the leading militant under the cell of Deng Aweji," said the official, referring to a BRN commander in Yala.
'From my children's broken toys'
The New Straits Times (NST) newspaper in Malaysia reported that the six suspects were living close to one another in Kelantan, and were picked up in police raids.
The suspects, who were in their 30s and 40s, possessed parts and materials that could be used to build bombs, including wires and batteries, state police chief Ab Rahman Ismail told NST.
The wife of one of the six suspects told NST that her husband, who worked as a carpenter, was not a militant or insurgent.
"He is not involved in any group and has not done anything wrong," said the woman, who was identified as "Yah."
"The battery unit and wires found in our house came from my children's broken toys. My husband wanted to repair them."
Both the chief of police in Kelantan and Malaysia's police chief, Khalid Abu Bakar, did not respond to requests for comment from BenarNews.
But a police official in Kelantan, who also declined to be identified, told BenarNews that investigators no longer believed that the suspects were connected to IS activities.
"Most probably all six were part of an insurgency group in Thailand close to the border," the official said.
Shortly after the arrests, Malaysian officials said they were investigating the suspects for possible links to the Middle East-based extremist group.
The arrests on Jan. 15 were carried out by the special branch of the Royal Malaysia Police, and the suspects are in custody at national police headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, the Kelantan police official said.
Many residents in the state hold dual Malaysian-Thai citizenship. Kelantan is where top leaders of the BRN and other Deep South rebel groups are believed to be hiding out from Thailand's military.
BRN is the largest and most heavily armed of the rebel groups in Thailand's Deep South. Nearly 7,000 people have been killed in violence associated with the insurgency since 2004, according to Deep South Watch, a local think-tank.
"The insurgents operate across the border, going back and forth," Maj. Gen. Nakrob Boonbuathong, the former secretary of Thailand's delegation in exploratory peace talks with southern rebel groups, told BenarNews in 2015.


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BENARNEWS- A group of Thais in Laos who are wanted back home on suspicion of violating a royal defamation law are facing arrest in Thailand over alleged death threats against its prime minister and deputy prime minister, an official said Monday.
Gen. Thawip Netniyom, chief of Thailand's National Security Council (NSC), last week announced that he had been assigned to travel to Laos to seek the arrest of up to six suspects over alleged violations of the strict law, which is known as Lese-Majeste.
On Monday he said he was to contact Laotian officials to request the arrests and extradition of the suspects over death threats that followed last week's announcement, according to reports. Thawip is waiting for confirmation from Laos about his travel plans, Reuters news service reported.
"The threats came from Thais who are disloyal to the monarchy and ran away to live in Laos. ... It is the same group that held radio programs defaming the monarchy," Thawip told reporters in Bangkok, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Government officials in Laos have not commented on the request.
The Lese-Majeste law, which carries a potential sentence of 15 years, prohibits the repetition or reproduction of content deemed as defaming members of Thailand's royalty.
Since a military government headed by Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha seized power in May 2014, at least 73 people have been charged with violating the law, often for comments posted on Facebook and other social media sites.
In January, a welder pleaded guilty to violating Lese-Majeste and Thailand's Computer Crimes Act, drawing an 11-year, four-month prison sentence.
Burin Intin was the first Thai to be sentenced under Lese-Majeste since King Maha Vajiralongkorn ascended to the throne on Dec. 1, following the death in October of his father, King Bhumbol Adulyadej, who ruled Thailand for 70 years.
Prayuth and Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon showed little concern about the alleged threats. Prayuth said recently that he cared more about the country than his life and, on Monday, Prawit said he was not concerned about the treats and did not need additional bodyguards, according to Reuters.
"There is nothing to worry about. [W]e know where they are," Prawit told reporters in Bangkok.


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