MikeLigalig.com

The new military commander overseeing Thailand's predominantly Muslim southernmost provinces has vowed to launch a crackdown on drugs, saying a recent survey found that most people in the region see addiction as their most-pressing issue, not the insurgency.
Lt. Gen. Pornsak Poonsawas, the Fourth Army Region commander, made the statement Sunday after making a courtesy call to Aziz Phitakkumpon, the country's top Muslim spiritual leader.
"The poll survey showed a significant result that local people have been struggling most with drug use, not insurgency," Pornsak told reporters, without elaborating. "I have prepared for proactive measures to significantly clean up drug issues."
Pornsak formally took control of the Fourth Army Region on Monday, replacing Lt Gen. Piyawat Nakwanich, who relinquished command two days ago during a ceremony at the Vajiravudh military camp in the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat.
"The villagers believe that drug issues have gone too far and drugs are still being sold everywhere on the streets because government officials are involved," Pornsak said, without providing evidence to support his allegations.
He warned that military men found guilty of selling illicit drugs would be punished and could even face criminal charges.
Drug have had a deep impact on communities and relationships in the south, according to a BBC Thai report, which quoted the military as saying that an estimated one in five teens are addicted to drugs in the Muslim-majority provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat.
"The drug issues are serious problems and have brought concern to people in the region," Pornsak said.
Aziz Phitakkumpon pledged to back Pornsak.
"The organization of the Sheikul Islam is ready to support the work of the Fourth Army Region commander in resolving drug issues," he said.
More than 4 percent of Thailand's 69 million people are Muslim, almost 2 million of whom live in the Deep South region next to the Malaysian border.
Since a long-running separatist insurgency by Malay-speaking, Muslim rebels re-ignited in 2004, almost 7,000 people have been killed in associated violence. According to local think-tank Deep South Watch, Buddhists, who are a minority in the region, comprise about half of the death toll.
Pornsak said the military would coordinate with the Office of the Narcotics Control Board and other government agencies to launch raids on 7,000 places where illegal drug use is proliferating.
Such operations, he said, would strictly respect the human rights of suspects and would expect support from village officials and civil society groups.
"The military is reserved as a support force," he said, adding that intelligence gathering would be improved as he vowed a revamp of the military leadership in the region.
"Military must not be lazy, must focus on foot patrol ...and also help protect villagers in the area," he said. "If the soldiers stay close by, there won't be insurgents daring to live [in the region]."


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

Thai authorities and a mining firm have used intimidation and lawsuits to target environmental activists from a northeastern community who campaigned for years against a gold mine near their homes, the NGO Fortify Rights said in a new report released Tuesday.
The rights advocacy group called on Thailand's government to investigate and prosecute people who attacked residents of six affected villages in Wang Sa Phung district, Loei province, as well as provide remedies and reparations to those whose rights were allegedly abused and violated because they opposed the mine.
"This community is facing ongoing reprisals for standing up for their environment, their rights, and their livelihoods for years," said Amy Smith, executive director of Fortify Rights, a Southeast Asia-based group. "The Thai government must ensure environmental defenders can carry out their legitimate work without fear of abuse or retaliation."
During an incident in May 2014, about 150 militiamen led by soldiers surrounded one of the villages and beat residents, the report said. In addition, the community has been badly affected by "unchecked environmental contamination" caused by pollution from the mining operation.
The NGO's 90-page report, titled "We Fight to Protect Our Home," was the outcome of a three-year investigation by Fortify Rights, which said it conducted 59 interviews with survivors and others who witnessed the May 2014 attack, along with government officials and other sources. The report found that rights abuses and violations occurred including judicial harassment, arbitrary detention through so-called "attitude adjustment" sessions and death threats.
The authorities and Tungkum Ltd., the firm that operated the mine until it was closed four years ago when the concession expired, have gone after environmental defenders through a series of lawsuits, Fortify alleged. The mining firm has since been taken over by another company, Tongkah Harbor.
Fortify released its report during a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand, where women activists from the affected community appeared on a panel. The attack in May 2014 occurred days before the military launched a coup that toppled a civilian-led government, a witness said.
"Men came to our village, held us captive and beat us," activist Pornthip Hongchai told the news conference.
The incident occurred about a year after villagers had erected a wall in a collective effort to stop trucks from accessing and leaving the gold mine. In May 2016, an army lieutenant colonel and a retired army lieutenant general were convicted and sentenced to prison terms of three years and two years, respectively, the report noted.
Villager Ranong Kongsaen said toxic run-off and waste from the gold mine has contaminated rice fields and poisoned shellfish in local rivers, threatening the livelihood of local residents.
"Our bodies have absorbed the pollution into our blood," Ranong told reporters.
Smith said the case of the villages in Wang Sa Phung is not an isolated one and judicial harassment is used in Thailand as a weapon to target small communities involved in environmental disputes.
"There are many communities throughout Thailand who suffer similar problems," Smith told the news conference in Bangkok.
The mine has been shut for four years, but the activists are pursuing lawsuits so the villagers can be compensated with damages for the environmental destruction. They also fear another company might be allowed to reopen the mine through winning a new concession, a lawyer representing the activists said.
Efforts by BenarNews to contact officials at the Thai Department of Mineral Resources for comment in response to the Fortify report were unsuccessful.
Chaiwat Jitthavornkul, an assistant company secretary with Tongkah Harbor, told BenarNews that the firm could not comment on the report.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

A measles outbreak in Thailand's southernmost province of Yala killed five children and infected more than 300 others a month after their parents declined government efforts to get them vaccinated, a health official said Wednesday.
Dr. Songkran Maichum, a public health physician, said officials have reacted by traveling to the infected areas and accelerating the vaccination program.
"The measles virus has continued to spread, especially in the areas where fewer children were vaccinated," he said. "We found 341 people infected from Sept. 1 to Oct. 9."
Measles, a highly contagious and infectious airborne disease caused by a virus, usually develops 10-12 days after exposure to an infected person. It spreads easily through the coughs or sneezes of infected people and can lead to deadly complications.
Symptoms begin with fever, nasal congestion, drooping red eyes and susceptibility to light. By the fourth day, victims begin to suffer from high fever and a reddish-brown rash will appear.
"To control the measles outbreak in Yala, a full set of personnel and vaccinations were deployed," Songkran said.
The Ministry of Public Health's epidemiology bureau reported 2,149 measles cases in September throughout Thailand. Along with predominantly Muslim Yala, outbreaks were reported in Prachuap Khiri Khan, Samut Sakhon, Chiang Mai and Amnat Charoen provinces.
Gen. Surachet Chaiwong, the government special representative for conflict resolution in the Southern border provinces, told BenarNews that officials met with Islamic leaders to discuss efforts to prevent a measles outbreak. Many Muslims cite religious concerns for refusing to have their children vaccinated.
"Five children who died from a measles outbreak over the past two weeks never received a measles vaccination," Surachet said. "The Ministry of Public Health and the Islamic leaders have reached out to tell local people that Muslim children can receive vaccinations."
According to the World Health Organization, more than 134,000 children die each year worldwide, including 54,000 from the Southeast Asian region, because of measles outbreaks. In 2016, it said, an estimated 4.7 million children in Southeast Asia did not receive measles vaccinations.
Dr Tanarak Plipat, deputy director-general of Thailand's Department of Disease Control, told The Nation newspaper in September last year that the vaccination coverage rate in most part of the country was at 95 percent, with the exception of the Deep South provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat.
Dr. Winai Dahlan, founding director of the Halal Science Center at Chulalongkorn University, confirmed that all types of vaccines can be given to Muslims. 

"There is no such vaccine that cannot be given to Muslim people. The meeting at the Islamic Central Board of Thailand today answered an inquiry about vaccinations in the Deep South because of concerns about a rumor that the vaccines have partial mixture of pig," he said.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

Thailand has named a new chief negotiator in stalled talks aimed at resolving a decades-long separatist conflict in its southern border region, while a panel representing insurgent groups has expanded, officials said Tuesday.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha confirmed the change days ahead of the first visit to Bangkok by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who in August had named a new facilitator for the Kuala Lumpur-brokered talks. Mahathir, who began his latest term in office in May, is scheduled to visit Thailand on Oct. 24-25, officials said.
The new Thai negotiator, Udomchai Thammasarorat, is a former commander of an army division that oversees southern Thailand, Prayuth said.
"He will work in line with government policy. We stick to government policy as the principle of the peace talks – as a way to solve violence in the Deep South," the junta chief told reporters after a cabinet meeting in Bangkok.
Meanwhile, the spokesman for the panel negotiating on behalf of southern rebels, MARA Patani, said it had expanded to include three new groups and planned to present a new proposal after nationwide polls next year.
"We will not forward the demands unless there is a new democratic Thai government being formed after the Thai general election that is expected to be held in February next year," MARA spokesman Abu Hafez Al-Hakim told BenarNews in Malaysia.
Because of the expansion the umbrella body has rebranded itself as MARA Patani Plus, he added, but declined to identify the three new groups that have come on board.
"More are joining. When we finalize the list, we will announce it," Abu Hafez said.
He acknowledged there had been tensions within the umbrella body.
"We are from different organizations. Of course, there will problems adjusting to one another," he said.
When the peace talks between Thailand's military government and MARA started more than three years ago, five southern rebel groups and factions were originally represented on the panel.
It consisted then of two factions of the Patani United Liberation Organization (PULO); the Patani Islamic Mujahideen Movement (GMIP); the Islamic Liberation Front of Patani (BIPP); and the National Revolutionary Front (BRN), the largest and most powerful of insurgent groups in the Deep South.
Questions persisted, however, about whether MARA truly controlled BRN's rank-and-file fighters and if BRN's hardcore leaders were on board with the peace talks. These have been held in various rounds in Kuala Lumpur since August 2015, despite ongoing violence in the predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking southern border provinces.

[https://www]

Thai police inspect the site of a drive-by shooting that killed a woman and her daughter in Bacho, a district of Narathiwat province in Thailand's insurgency-stricken Deep South, Aug. 11, 2018. AFP

 
Exit Aksara and Zamzamin
Udomchai replaces Gen. Aksara Kerdpol who had led the Thai delegation in the negotiations with MARA since they began.
"The change is because [Aksara] worked so hard for many years, so we changed to a new person," Prayuth said on Tuesday.
Among the new faces at the table will be Abdul Rahim Noor, a former Malaysian national police chief who replaces Zamzamin Hashim as the facilitator of the peace talks.
"With the appointment of Tan Sri Abdul Rahim Noor as a new facilitator, we expect there will be a slight reshuffle in the composition of the Thai delegation, which has been largely dominated by military representatives," MARA's Abu Hafez told Benar last week.
He added then that the talks had been suspended because the Thai side refused to sign a framework deal paving the way for implementing a so-called safety zone, or geographically limited ceasefire in the Deep South that is widely seen as a linchpin for a future peace.
'Absolutely moribund'
According to Zachary Abuza, a security analyst and expert on the conflict in the Deep South, "the Thai side needed to make some sort of gesture ahead of Mahathir's upcoming visit."
"Mahathir just appointed his facilitator, so it made some sense for the Thai side to put in place a new team to revitalize the absolutely moribund peace talks," Abuza,  a BenarNews columnist who teaches at the National War College in Washington, told the news website.
"They have stalled, and whenever that happens you really need some new blood. That said, I do not think that his political overlords are going to give him any latitude."
Gen. Udomchai, the new head of the Thai negotiating team, "was willing to confront – or at least acknowledge" the problem of impunity among the government security forces in the south, Abuza added.
"It's not that he fixed it, but he did let several cases move through the courts, unlike other 4th Army commanders. That is something that the Malaysians would acknowledge," the analyst said.
The separatist insurgency has wracked the Deep South for decades.
Nearly 7,000 people have been killed in violence throughout the region, which borders Malaysia, since the insurgency re-ignited in 2004. The Deep South encompasses Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat provinces, as well as four districts of Songkhla province.





* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

The new Thai army chief on Wednesday defended previous military power-grabs that overthrew civilian governments in Thailand, and said he would not rule out another intervention if next year's general election led to political conflict.
Gen. Apirat Kongsompong, a staunchly royalist general who took over as commander of the Royal Thai Army less than three weeks ago, made the comments during his first news conference in Bangkok.
"The past armed forces would not have had staged coups in recent years unless the politics created the conditions," Apirat told reporters. "I hope the politics would not trigger conflicts among the citizens again."
Thailand is due to hold a general election by May 2019 at the latest, the first such polls to be held since a junta took over in May 2014.
"I'm confident that if the politics doesn't create riots, nothing would happen," Apirat said in Bangkok during his first news conference since assuming the army's top post. "No riots, no intervention."
Political violence in the streets of Bangkok and other Thai cities preceded the last military coup, which toppled the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on May 22, 2014.
On Wednesday, pro-democracy activists, politicians and academicians slammed Apirat's remarks.
"The armed forces' interest is one factor for coup. They gain from budget allocation, which is more useful elsewhere. The coup is not necessary but the military makes it like it is," Titipol Phakdeewanich, dean of the political science faculty at Ubon Ratchathani University, told BenarNews.
A long history of coups
Thailand's armed forces have staged at least 18 coups since 1932, when the nation adopted a constitutional monarchy, according to the Congressional Research Service. The military quashed a protest movement in 2010 and ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra – Yingluck's brother – in 2006.
Eight years later, when then-Army Chief Gen. Prayuth Chan-o-cha plunged the nation into military rule by overthrowing Yingluck's government, he dissolved parliament, detained political leaders and imposed a curfew while promising to bring Thailand back to democracy within 18 months.
Since then, Prime Minister Prayuth has postponed multiple times what he has referred to as his "road map" to an election, infuriating pro-democracy groups by pushing the date back to February 2019 at the earliest.
Gen. Apirat played key roles in suppressing deadly street protests by the pro-Thaksin Shinawatra Red Shirt movement since 2009. He also took a major role in the coup that installed Prayuth in power.
Apirat is the son of Gen. Sunthorn Kongsompong, who led a successful coup against then-Prime Minister Maj. Gen. Chatichai Choonhavan in 1991.
Reacting to the general's comments, an opposition MP with Pheu Thai Party said the military should stay out of politics and let the politicians deal with the problems.
"The coups happened because the military took sides. The political problems must be solved through a democratic way," MP Somkid Cheukong told BenarNews.
"Politicians end conflict in the parliament and not on the streets."


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

A Thai court on Thursday convicted two military officers and sentenced each to 27 years in prison for being involved in a transnational crime syndicate that smuggled Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar, officials said.
Natthasit Naksuwan, an army colonel, and Kampanat Sangthongjeen, a navy captain, undertook the unauthorized and non-recorded removal of dozens of undocumented Rohingya migrants, who were being held by police in southern Satun province, and shipped them off in a truck, the Bangkok Criminal Court found.
"As per the court's consideration, the two are found guilty of organizing transnational crimes, human trafficking and harboring illegal migrants. Being government officers [found guilty], the sentences are doubled," the court ruled.
The two officers were responsible for intercepting Rohingya who fled from Myanmar and sailed across the Andaman Sea, where they landed on Thailand's western coast between January 2011and May 2015, the court said.
Both men will appeal the verdict, one of their lawyers told BenarNews.
"There were some 50 migrants, the officers had no place to keep them. He retrieved them from the police and kept them under the marine police but they vanished. No one admitted fault in having let them go," Wuthichai, an attorney representing Natthasit, told BenarNews. The attorney asked that Benar only use his first name, citing privacy reasons.
He said the case of the two officers was tied to the May 2015 discovery of mass graves in the jungle along Thailand's southern border with Malaysia that contained the bodies of 32 Rohingya and Bangladeshi victims of human trafficking.
The grisly finding led to Thailand imposing a maritime blockade on boats that smuggled people to the country's western coast. That move, in turn, precipitated a regional migration crisis that saw thousands of desperate Rohingya and Bangladeshis come ashore in nearby Indonesia and Malaysia in May 2015.
After the discovery, the Thai authorities launched a crackdown on illegal migration, in which a three-star army general, police and government officials were implicated as part of a transnational criminal ring that smuggled in the people whose bodies were buried in those jungle graves.
In July 2017, former Army Lt. Gen. Manas Kongpaen was sentenced to 27 years in prison, when he and 61 other defendants were convicted in Thailand's largest human trafficking case.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

Thailand's new army chief struck an upbeat tone ahead of Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's first official visit that begins Wednesday, saying the leader of the new government in Kuala Lumpur was on the same page as his Thai counterpart regarding southern peace talks.
Gen. Apirat Kongsompong spoke about Malaysia-brokered efforts to end a long-running separatist conflict in the Thai Deep South during a trip to the border region – his first since taking over as commander of the Royal Thai Army on Oct. 1. He also traveled there after the various sides in the three-year-old talks revamped their delegations.
"We need peace talks because the matter is very delicate," Apirat told a news conference on Monday in Khok Po, a district of Pattani province. "I believe the situation will soon improve because the two prime ministers have shown signs of full cooperation in peace talks."
He was visiting mosques and temples during his two-day trip to promote harmony among the region's Muslim majority and its Buddhist minority, he said.
Mahathir's trip, meanwhile, comes after Malaysia and Thailand changed their main representatives at the talks between the Thai junta and southern insurgents, and MARA Patani, an umbrella body negotiating on behalf of different rebel groups, announced it had expanded.
"With regard to the peace talks, the Thai and Malaysian government give top priority to the problems in Deep South. Malaysia doesn't support, nor agree with violence," Apirat said.
Neither Thailand nor Malaysia has officially provided an official statement explaining Mahathir's visit, his first trip to Bangkok since he led an opposition coalition to a stunning victory in the May general elections.
But Thai Prime Minister and junta chief Prayuth Chan-o-cha was quoted last month as saying that Mahathir's presence in the kingdom would allow the neighboring nations to discuss the stalled peace talks in the far south.
"The Malaysian government emphasized this matter and talks have been continuing," Prayuth told reporters, referring to the peace negotiations, according to the state-run Malaysian news agency Bernama.
"The new Malaysian prime minister also wanted Malaysia's mission as the facilitator to be as successful as it can be," he said.
Mahathir, 93, will lead a full cabinet delegation for an official visit that will feature a meeting with Prayuth, the Thai foreign affairs ministry said on Monday.
Mahathir is scheduled to arrive at Bangkok's Air Force Wing 6 Airbase on Wednesday morning. He will have a 30-minute meeting with Prayuth at Government House in Bangkok in the late afternoon, Thai officials said.
The following day, Mahathir will pay a courtesy call to Gen. Prem Tinsulanonda, a 98-year-old retired military officer and former prime minister who heads Thailand's Privy Council, the body that advises King Maha Vajiralongkorn (Rama X). Mahathir will also attend a luncheon with the Malaysian community in Thailand, officials said.
Revamped teams
Last week, Prayuth confirmed that Thailand had named Udomchai Thammasarorat, a former commander of an army division that oversees southern Thailand, as the new chief Thai negotiator in the talks aimed at resolving the separatist conflict, which has claimed thousands of lives over decades.
The spokesman for a panel negotiating on behalf of southern rebels, MARA Patani, also said last week that it had added three new groups and planned to present a new proposal after a general election in Thailand next year. As a result of the expansion, the umbrella body has rebranded itself as MARA Patani Plus, spokesman Abu Hafez Al-Hakim told BenarNews in Malaysia.
Udomchai replaced Gen. Aksara Kerdpol who had led the Thai delegation in the negotiations with MARA since they began in 2015. Two months ago, Malaysia also appointed former police chief Abdul Rahim Noor as facilitator of the Kuala Lumpur-brokered peace talks.
Meanwhile, in an interview with BBC Thai published on Monday, Abdul Karim Khalid, a spokesman for the Patani-Malay National Revolutionary Front, or BRN rebel group, warned that the peace talks would only succeed if the Thai government negotiated directly with it and not through MARA.
"We have to make it known to them today, between the two PMs, they have to recognize that we are important," he said of the group he represents, generally recognized currently as the largest and best-armed of the rebel organizations in the Deep South.
"If both sides are not interested or dogmatic to do the same thing, I can say that there is no meaning whatsoever," he said.
Almost 7,000 people have been killed in violence throughout Thailand's southern border region, which borders Malaysia, since the insurgency re-ignited in 2004. The Deep South encompasses Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat provinces, as well as four districts of Songkhla province.
Wilawan Watcharasakwet in Bangkok contributed to this report.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

Malaysia and Thailand have agreed to expand the scope of bilateral cooperation to contain an insurgency along their shared border after changing peace negotiators, and Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad promised Wednesday to help solve the conflict as he started a visit to Bangkok.
The 93-year-old Mahathir met with Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha as he began his first state visit to Thailand since taking office again as premier five months ago.
"Now, you have the problem in the south and we are pledged to help in whatever way possible to end this violence," Malaysian Prime Mahathir Mohamad told a joint press conference at Government House.
Since 2013, Malaysia has facilitated different sets of peace talks between Thailand and insurgents waging a separatist war in the Thai Deep South.
In recent weeks, Thailand and Malaysia have replaced their chief representatives at the talks and MARA Patani, an umbrella group negotiating on behalf of various rebel groups and factions said it had added groups on its side and rebranded itself as MARA Patani Plus. However, a spokesman for MARA declined to name the new groups.
"We have no problems between Thailand and Malaysia. In fact, we have the history of strong cooperation when Malaysia was facing the problem of terrorism before," said Mahathir, whose Pakatan Harapan alliance defeated the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition in a general election on May 9.
"Thailand helped in many ways to put an end to the kind of activity and we are very grateful to the Thai government and Thai people," he said, referring to a communist insurgency that raged along Malaysia's border with Thailand decades ago.
Prayuth, 64, reaffirmed that talks aimed at settling the separatist conflict would go on with Malaysia in a role as peace broker.
"I share the view that it is in Thailand's and Malaysia's best interest, and it is indeed, of the region that the situation in the southern border provinces must be resolved," Prayuth said. "It shall be carried out, however, within the framework of Thailand's Constitution."
The talks between the junta and MARA started in mid-2015. They followed another set of talks between the rebel group known as the National Revolutionary Front (BRN) and the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.
Those previous talks stalled in December 2013 and Yingluck's government was toppled in a military coup led by Prayuth, the then-army chief, in May 2014.
At Wednesday's press conference, Prayuth said the neighboring countries would expand their scope of cooperation including on economic development and efforts to counter cross-border terrorism, extremism and transnational crime.
"As we are about to begin a new chapter of Thailand-Malaysia relations, I propose that both sides elevate our economic cooperation to the level of an 'Enhanced Strategic Economic Partnership.'"
"In this regard, both countries will jointly push forward cooperation projects that have been pending, quite a number of them, placing particular emphasis on border area development, connectivity, trade, investment and tourism between both sides," Prayuth said without detailing any of the projects.
More violence in the south
On the eve of Mahathir's visit, police said suspected insurgents launched a grenade attack at a tire shop in Yala, a province in Deep South. No one was injured.
Reacting to that attack, Zachary Abuza, a BenarNews columnist and expert on the Thai Deep South noted in a tweet that it was the first bombing carried out in the region since Sept. 9.
"On the eve of the Malaysia-Thai summit, it's almost as if the BRN wants to send a signal," Abuza said Wednesday in a message on Twitter.
And on Wednesday, a 58-year-old chief of Talubo, a village cluster in Pattani province, was shot in the chest and leg and was in serious but safe condition, police said, adding that a 52-year-old woman, who was struck in the leg by a stray bullet, was in safe condition.

[https://www]

Members of an activist group, "Deep South Peaceful Thais," hold signs outside the Malaysian Consular office in southern Thailand's Songkhla province, urging Malaysia to stop supporting insurgents, Oct. 24, 2018. (Mariyam Ahmad/BenarNews)

 
Thais protest
Meanwhile in Songkhla province on Wednesday, about 30 activists with a group calling itself Deep South Peaceful Thais rallied at the Malaysian consular office to lodge a letter of complaint with the consulate-general, urging the nation to stop supporting insurgents in exile.
Many insurgents from the Deep South are believed to be sheltering just across the border in northern Malaysia.
The group was calling on the Malaysian government "to arrest criminals, all militants, the leaders or the supporters, who committed crimes in Thailand," said a leader of the group who requested anonymity.
"After finishing attacks, they fled to and hid in Malaysia – the base for terrorizing Thai people," he said.
He stood with a group holding signs in Thai and English stating "Malaysia, please don't offer the shelter to Thai criminals."
Meanwhile, Deep South analysts cautioned that officials needed to take positive steps to achieve peace.
"To make the peace process meaningful to people in Thailand's Deep South, Malaysia should send a clear message to BRN separatist insurgents that they must immediately stop attacking civilians in their armed struggle against the Thai state," Sunai Phasuk, a senior Thai researcher told BenarNews. "In this light, Malaysia should no longer harbor insurgents responsible serious human rights abuses."
The BRN, the largest and most heavily armed of rebel groups in the south, controls virtually all of the combatants in the region and has criticized the peace process between MARA Patani and Thailand's military government, saying it wants to negotiate directly with Bangkok.
"On the other hand, Malaysia should be candid with Bangkok that a peace process requires trust and confidence from the ethnic Malay Muslim population, which will never take place as long as Thai security forces use extrajudicial tactics and operate with impunity," Sunai said.
The decades-old insurgency in the predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking Deep South – which encompasses Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala provinces, as well as four districts of Songkhla – has resulted in nearly 7,000 deaths since it re-ignited in 2004.
Mariyam Ahmad in Pattani, Thailand, contributed to this report.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

The new Thai and Malaysian chief negotiators in talks aimed at resolving an insurgency in southern Thailand said they agreed to meet all involved groups and hear their demands as they begin working together to revive the peace process.
Udomchai Thammasarorat, a former Thai army general, and Abdul Rahim Noor, a former Malaysian national police chief, met for the first time in Bangkok this week after their governments appointed them as their new top representatives in the Malaysia-brokered peace talks.
"From what I heard from Tan Sri (Abdul Rahim), all troubles are not hard to resolve. Thailand's approach is we talk to all dissident groups who have differences with the Thai government. We are open to all groups," Udomchai said on Thursday, using a Thai term synonymous with rebel groups.
He did not specify whether that would include hardcore elements of the National Revolutionary Front (BRN) – the largest and most heavily armed rebel group waging a separatist war in the Thai Deep South – in the current peace talks.
Udomchai's comments were recorded in a video of a press briefing at a five-star hotel in Bangkok that followed his discussions with Abdul Rahim.
The pair met in Bangkok over two days and on the sidelines of Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's first state visit to Thailand since his Pakatan Harapan alliance was elected in May. They said this signaled a fresh start in a peace process.
"To some extent, it is a new era in terms of direction and the push to quicken the peace process, which has been going on for six years," said Abdul Rahim, who was appointed as the Malaysian facilitator in August, according to state-run news service Bernama.
"There is now a 'new era' and better momentum for achieving peace in southern Thailand and calls for the process to be quickened," the former police inspector-general told reporters in Bangkok.
Abdul Rahim said that, apart from the Thai sides, he intended to communicate with both moderate and hardcore insurgent groups, according Bernama's report, which was published Friday.
He has already talked with both types of rebel organizations during his three first months as facilitator, the article noted.
"I am personally and definitely confident that, given the correct momentum, peace in southern Thailand will be achieved sooner rather than later," the new Malaysian peace broker said.
"All parties must have the political will to find solutions suitable for southern Thailand," Abdul Rahim added.
Udomchai, the former army chief in a regional military command that covers the Deep South, said "we've invested a lot" in peace talks over the past several years.
"I told Tan Sri that the approach won't be different from 30 years ago when he dealt with [communists], Malaysia was a negotiating party," the Thai negotiator said, adding that his Malaysian counterpart's new role as a peace broker was a reversal of roles for him.
Udomchai was alluding to a previous long-running Malaysian communist insurgency along the Thai-Malaysia border that Abdul Rahim helped settle decades ago when he served as his nation's negotiator in that conflict.
The BRN factor
Days ahead of Mahathir's visit to Bangkok and his meeting with Thai counterpart Prayuth Chan-o-cha, the BRN warned that the talks would succeed only if the Thais negotiated directly with it.
The group previously criticized negotiations between Thailand's military government and MARA Patani – an umbrella group that claims to negotiate on behalf of all the southern rebel groups and include BRN representatives on its panel.
"We have to make it known to them today, between the two PMs, they have to recognize that we are important," BRN spokesman Abdul Karim Khalid told BBC News's Thai service on Oct. 22.
"If both sides are not interested or dogmatic to do the same thing, I can say that there is no meaning whatsoever," he said.
MARA recently announced its expansion from five to eight groups, and rebranded itself as MARA Patani Plus. However, spokesman Abu Hafez Al-Hakim, who could not be reached for comment on Friday, earlier declined to identify the new groups.
The talks between the junta and MARA started in mid-2015, but so far have failed to produce a limited ceasefire – or so-called safety zone – seen as a linchpin to taking the peace process beyond the negotiations table.
The MARA talks followed another set of Malaysia-brokered talks directly between BRN and the government of then-Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.
Those talks began in February 2013 but went nowhere in December of that year after the Thai government rejected five demands presented in a YouTube video by BRN negotiator and chief Hassan Bin Toyib.
One demand was that Thailand grant the Deep South sovereignty and recognize the "Patani Malay Nation," which was unacceptable to Bangkok.
In May 2014, Yingluck's government was toppled in a military coup led by Prayuth, the then-army chief.
The decades-old insurgency in the predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking Deep South – which encompasses Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala provinces, as well as four districts of Songkhla – has resulted in nearly 7,000 deaths since it re-ignited in 2004.
Rungrawee Chalermsripinyorat, an expert on the conflict in Thailand's southern border region, said the talks could not gain traction unless the Thai government includes BRN's leadership in the negotiations.
"The BRN is ready to come to the table should Bangkok allow international observers. If it accepts this, the peace talks could proceed in a more fruitful and meaningful way," Rungrawee told BenarNews.
"Whether Mahathir wishes or could persuade Thailand to accept such pre-conditions, it is up to him."
After landing in Bangkok on Wednesday, the 93-year-old Malaysian prime minister pledged that his government would "help in whatever way possible to end this violence."


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

A local rap band's profanity-laced online music video, which does not hold back in ripping Thailand's junta, has exploded on social media particularly since the deputy national police chief threatened action three days ago.
The five-minute black-and-white video by the band that calls itself Rap Against Dictatorship, or RAD, had topped the iTunes charts in Thailand and was close to surpassing 21 million views on Facebook as of early Tuesday (local time). In it, the 10 band members strut and rap against the backdrop of scenes reenacting an infamous military massacre of student protesters at a Bangkok university in 1976.
"We are confident that we do not break the laws. Ten of us co-wrote the lyrics. We did not make up the contents," Jacoboi, one of the members of the band told BenarNews, adding similar criticism of the military government was widely available online.
"Nobody is arrested yet. We are all safe but what happened around us makes us worry," he said.
By Monday evening, police had not taken action against the band over its Oct. 22 posting of the video called "Which Country Has" in English, although the nation's No. 2 police official issued a warning to the rappers on Friday, according to Thai media reports.
The band may have broken Thai laws by releasing its single online, and the Police Technology Crime Suppression Division was to scrutinize the video's lyrics, Pol. Gen. Srivara Ransibrahmanakul, the deputy national police chief said, according to The Nation newspaper.
He said members would also be summoned to testify if they had intended to cause any chaos or violate any orders from the National Council for Peace and Order – the formal name for Thailand's junta.
"I want to warn musicians to not do anything that risks violating the country's laws, as it will not be good for them or their families if the songs are found to be violating the law," the Nation quoted Srivara on Friday.
 
Free speech and public assembly have been tightly controlled under Thailand's junta, which seized power in a coup in May 2014 but, after many postponements, has promised to hold the first general election sometime within the first half of next year.
On Friday, the video had generated some 4 million views on Facebook, but that figure has multiplied five-fold in the past three days.
On Monday, officers at the Technology Crime Suppression Division met but had yet to conclude whether charges could be brought against the group, Srivara told reporters.
"Initially there is no clue yet, but we haven't done with examining evidence. We need to handle it carefully to find the intent," he said.
'Don't tell me I can choose'
The music video is laden with anti-junta lyrics and criticism of the military's suppression of free speech, the long-delayed national polls and corruption.
"You don't know what this frickin' country has ... we all will tell you ..." one of the band's members raps in the opening scenes.
"... The country [where] its capital heart turned into killing fields, the country that leaders eat taxes like a sweet meal, this is my country, this my country," the song goes on to say, alluding to the killings 42 years ago of students who were protesting against the military at Thammasart University.
The video also deals with present-day Thailand.
"Free country, F_ck it! Don't tell me I can choose. Even the PM is still picked by [the] army ... This is my country," the rappers sing.
Natthapong Srimuang, the band's founder, defended the controversial video, saying the rappers had made it to heal a rift among the Thai people.
"As we see it, the main troubles are not only about the corruption or the military, but the polarization of the people," Natthapong told local media. "We tried to wake them up, unite them to find common solution."
But as he spoke to reporters on Monday, junta leader and Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha brushed aside the video.
"On the website, social media, open it, what a song. Don't pay attention to that, I don't pay attention. If you do, it will keep going big. Think about the country, use your judgment listen to that, is it right or not," Prayuth said.
"Is the country that hard? Am I that dictatorial? ... I'm not doing anything for personal gain. I think I have done for the country more than dictating," said Prayuth, a retired army chief of staff who led the coup that the elected government of Yingluck Shinawatra four years ago.
"Don't let anyone distort the facts," the junta chief added.
Meanwhile over the weekend, the main opposition Pheu Thai party of Yingluck, who is living in exile, picked acting chief Viroj Pao-in to lead it in the upcoming general election. His name was the only one listed on its leadership ballot, the Straits Times newspaper of Singapore reported.
The meeting marked the first time that party leaders and members had gathered officially since the junta under Prayuth had banned political gatherings of more than five people.
"We are now getting ready for the elections," Viroj, 86, a retired police general, said on Sunday, according to Al-Jazeera.
An earlier version of this story misspelled the name of the new Pheu Thai party leader.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

The sister of Somkiat Srimaungko expressed a bittersweet joy as she gazed at his ashes.
Somkiat had finally come home to Thailand, three years after he died on Benjina, an Indonesian island that became notorious in 2015 as a symbol of modern-day slavery. In September, his sister traveled to the island to oversee his cremation and bring home the ashes.
His was the story of a Thai man who was freed along with hundreds of other enslaved Southeast Asians, but whose life was cut short only a month later while he was caught up in a bureaucratic tangle that delayed his homecoming.
After his death, identifying and repatriating Somkiat's remains was a long process, rights groups said, underscoring the difficulty faced by volunteers seeking to exhume the bodies of up to 200 fishermen from across Southeast Asia believed to be buried in common graves on Benjina and nearby islands.
"I wish those other corpses there were exhumed and returned home, like my brother, no matter whether they are Thai, Laotian or from Myanmar," Suksan Srimaungko, Somkiat's sister, told BenarNews.
Her mind drifted back to the others still buried on Benjina, as she spoke to Benar during a religious service last month for Somkiat at his hometown in Karb Choeng, a district in northeastern Surin province.
She was referring to fishermen who worked on Benjina and other remote Indonesian islands, where more than 3,000 fishermen were freed in April 2015, after a covert investigation exposed horrific abuses in Thailand's lucrative seafood industry.
Benjina became the focus of investigations when a Thai human rights group teamed up with journalists and documented labor misdeeds, including allegations from fishermen that supervisors on ships tossed bodies into the sea to be devoured by sharks. The island, part of the Maluku chain, is about 2,900 km (1,800 miles) east of Jakarta.
Volunteers had interviewed area residents and witnesses and discovered multiple common graves, according to Patima Tungpuchayakul, director of the Labor Rights Promotion Network (LPN). There were 97 graves on Benjina, as well as 24 on Ambon and 100 on Tual islands, she said.
But she struggled to explain why – three years after the world caught a glimpse of appalling abuse of workers in the multibillion-dollar Thai fishing industry – rights advocates still could not get permits to exhume bodies.
"Ninety percent of the crews used fake documents, different names on their seamen's books," Patima told BenarNews. "It is hard to verify."
[https://www]
 
A fisherman's journey
She said Somkiat died on Benjina on May 4, 2015, a month after his fellow fishermen from rural villages in Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand and Laos were liberated from the island, where they had endured many years of traumatic abuse that included being held in cages like slaves.
Five years ago, Somkiat worked on a Thai fishing vessel but, later on, wound up working for a Malaysian boat that went to Benjina Island, where he used a Cambodian name to hide his immigration status, LPN said.
He was alive when thousands of his fellow fishermen won their freedom in April 2015, and he wanted to go home, according to LPN.
During their investigations, rights advocates took photographs of a graveyard surrounded by tall grass and wild shrubs that, according to the Associated Press, entombed 64 fishermen who never came back home. AP was the news agency that broke the story about Benjina and earned a Pulitzer Prize for it.

The pictures showed wooden plaques painted in bright yellow, blue or white that identified the bodies below. Each marker showed the fisherman's name, birth date, home town, seaman's book number, the name of the vessel he worked on and his date of death.
Rights advocates also interviewed fishermen who said they helped bury their friends who had used fake Thai names.
Patima said advocates met Somkiat on Benjina, but his repatriation was delayed because authorities had difficulty confirming his identity.
On May 4, 2015 Somkiat fell to his death from a fishing vessel, according to Indonesian authorities.
"Somkiat told us he wanted to go home, but he couldn't because his seaman's book had identified him as a Cambodian named Chaiya Bounsam. He couldn't leave because of the inaccurate document. He died a week later," Patima said.
"We don't know how long it takes but on behalf of the dead, we would like people to find their relatives," she said. "There are too many who died. I wish the government could promote better working conditions for fishermen."
 
Temporary ban
After thousands of fishermen were freed from captivity, Indonesia ordered a temporary ban on most fishing, clearing out foreign trawlers that harvest billions of dollars of mackerel, tuna, grouper and squid from Arafura Sea, which draws illegal fishing fleets from Southeast Asian nations.
But as a result of the moratorium, dozens of foreign boats docked in Benjina and about 1,000 migrant workers were stranded onshore when they were abandoned by their boat captains.
Others had been trapped on the islands for years after escaping into the jungle, rights advocates said. But, so far, only five Thais had approached them to help find their missing relatives, according to LPN.
Chairat Ratchapaksi, who worked on a Thai commercial fishing boat, corroborated the story of abuse and violence, telling BenarNews recently that up to 500 fishermen had escaped captivity and vanished into islets.
Chairat, who now heads the Thai and Migrant Fishers Union Group, said exhuming a grave in Indonesia would be costly: about 150,000 baht (about U.S. $4,500).
Relatives might be able to help verify the remains, but they often couldn't identify the fishing vessels where their relatives worked on and what names were logged in their seaman's book, Chairat said.
"There must be some clue before a grave can be dug for DNA testing," he said. "To bring out remains or ashes improperly is illegal. ... We must find a starting point before we could help."
The government was ready to help bring back the ashes of those who died, Somboon Traisilanan, a director at the Thai Ministry of Labor, told BenarNews.
"I saw markings of names and nationalities, but who knows if the grave with Thai name markings may contain a Cambodian? They used false identities before 2015," Somboon said.
The abuses spurred Thailand's military government to promise a new national registry of illegal migrant workers, including those working in the fishing industry.
But in a report in March, the U.N.'s International Labor Organization (ILO) said that unfair practices and deception still existed in the nation's fishing industry.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

If elections go ahead as planned next year, military-ruled Thailand will be under a new government by June, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said Thursday.
He vowed that the general election would push through as planned on Feb. 24, nearly five years after the military seized power.
Official results of the election would be announced no later than April 24, followed by a meeting of parliament on May 8 to select the prime minister.
"According to the constitutional regulations, the election commission suggests preparations for the election date that should be on the last Sunday of February, which is Feb. 24," Wissanu told reporters at Government House in Bangkok.
Incumbent Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha was only four months from mandatory retirement from the army when he seized power at the height of street protests against the elected government of Yingluck Shinawatra, on May 22, 2014.
Wissanu said the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), as the junta is formally known, would remain in power until the formation of a new cabinet.
"May 8 is the first meeting date for the national assembly as well as the last day of this cabinet. However, the NCPO will still remain in power until the new cabinet announces its policy in June next year," Wissanu said.
The military junta has pushed back dates for elections at least four times. 

Wissanu's announcement on political timelines came a month after Prayuth confirmed Bangkok's plans to hold the election in February during a meeting in Tokyo with Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe.
Elections Commission to consider EU request
Meanwhile, a top elections official was quoted saying Thursday that the junta would study a European Union request to send a mission to Thailand consisting of more than 200 people to observe the elections.
"Initially, we'll stick to what we've always done. If they come to observe constructively, comply with related laws and regulations and do not cause problems in the process, there's no reason to deny their request," said Ittiporn Boonpracong, president of Thailand's Election Commission.
He told the Bangkok Post that the commission would start considering the request in two weeks, explaining that election authorities were busy redrawing constituencies.
Uchane Cheangsan, a political science professor at Walailuck University, said Thais have been anxiously awaiting the elections.
"The Thai society wants to vote," Uchane told BenarNews. "People are tired with Prayuth. Deep down inside, I think people are aware what has happened with the country. They want to have a new government that is not [led by] Prayuth.

After taking power, Prayuth dissolved parliament, detained political leaders and imposed a curfew while promising to bring Thailand back to democracy within 18 months.
During the past four years, Prayuth's government has returned Thailand to relative economic strength, with gross domestic product (GDP) growing to 4 percent and exports at a seven-year high. 

But a recent Human Rights Watch (HRW) report stated that the junta had repeatedly failed to fulfill pledges made to the U.N. General Assembly to respect human rights and democratic rule.
Instead, it said, Prayuth curtailed people's rights to free speech and peaceful assembly and orchestrated the 2017 Constitution, "which will entrench unaccountable and abusive military power."
The military-backed constitution, which was adopted through a national referendum in August 2016, contains provisions that allow the military to add 100 seats to the Senate and appoint all its members, HRW said.
The military controls 143 out of 250 parliamentary seats, reports said. Under the previous junta after the 2006 coup, the military held 67 of 242 seats.
Under Prayuth's leadership, Thailand also clamped down on dissent, arresting pro-democracy activists and critics, as well as banning large political gatherings and demonstrations. 

The junta-backed parliament also passed an array of laws aimed at gagging free speech, rights activists said, in a country that already has Lese-Majeste, a strict anti-royal defamation law that forbids insults to members of the Thai monarchy.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

A Bangkok court on Friday found Chinese dissident Yang Chong guilty of violating Thailand's immigration law by staying in the country after his visa expired, but ruled he would not have to go to prison.

The Pathumwan Municipal Court handed down its ruling after putting Yang on trial for one day earlier this week. On Friday, the court tried his wife and fellow dissident, Wu Yuhua, on similar immigration law charges. A verdict in her case is expected in December, court officials said.

"From the witnesses and evidence, the court found Mr. Yang Chong guilty and sentenced him to a six-month jail term and a fine of 10,000 baht (U.S. $303), but he is permitted a one-year probation because the defendant has no criminal record," the court ruled.

The defendant would not have to pay the fine, the court said, because he had spent 30 days in custody while the case was being investigated, and each day of detention was worth 500 baht (U.S. $15) in fines.

"Yang was detained longer than the fine. Therefore, he does not have to pay the fine and will be released without supervision," the court said.

Yang Chong and Wu Yuhua were arrested on Aug. 29 along with another Chinese national outside the New Zealand Embassy in Bangkok where they had hoped to persuade New Zealand officials to consider them for resettlement there.

Yang told the court he went to the embassy to request asylum but was detained following an argument over his request.

Warissara Rungthong, a lawyer with the People Serving People foundation, said it would assist the couple in their efforts to resettle in a third country as soon as possible.  

"They are currently in the process of seeking asylum. There will be interviews, physical exams and other information inquiries. The foundation will try to get them to travel to the third country soon," the lawyer said.

Despite the positive ruling, Wu told BenarNews she was concerned for her husband.

"I still worry that Yang Chong will be pushed back [to China] while waiting to resettle to the third country," Wu said.

Seeking refuge

Yang and Wu initially were targeted by Chinese police after taking part in press freedom protests in the southern city of Guangzhou in January 2013.

They fled China in February 2015 and made their way to Thailand after Wu started a support group for disappeared rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng. In Thailand, they eked out an existence without papers in the country's Pattaya region.

They were approved as political refugees by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in Bangkok in 2017, but had yet to be accepted for resettlement in a third country amid a global tightening of national immigration policies.

Thailand has sent refugees from China back home in the past.

In July, authorities in the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing jailed rights activist Dong Guangping and political cartoonist Jiang Yefei after they were sent home from Thailand as they were awaiting resettlement as political refugees, prompting an international outcry.
Radio Free Asia (RFA), a sister entity of BenarNews, contributed to this report.





* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

Seven suspected insurgents have received life sentences in prison after a court found them guilty of being involved in an attack that wounded 12 policemen at a security checkpoint in the Deep South province of Yala last year, according to court documents.
The Yala Provincial Court, which handed down the ruling last week, also convicted an eighth defendant but gave him a five-year sentence. Up to 30 suspected insurgents, who were armed with guns and grenade launchers, attacked the checkpoint at a market in Krong Pinang district on April 3, 2017, authorities said.
"Seven defendants will receive life imprisonment and the other 5 years in jail," the judge said as he issued his sentence on Nov. 7, court documents showed. "They committed sabotage, taking part in crime syndicates and pre-meditated attempts to kill officials."
The attackers planted bombs, nail spikes and logs along the road to obstruct responding officers during their escape, according to court documents made available to BenarNews on Tuesday.
Surveillance footage from closed-circuit television showed that almost 30 attackers split into two groups during the attack, Police Capt. Pongsak Khaonuan, deputy inspector in Krong Pinang, told BenarNews last year.
"The first group climbed up to the roof of the house next to the checkpoint, then fired heavy weapons at officers and used grenade launchers to attack," he said. "Another group attacked the officers from outside the checkpoint."
Maj. Gen. Krisda Kaewchandee, the chief of police in Yala, also told BenarNews at the time that more than 20 men were involved in the attack, most of them locals.
Nearly 7,000 people have been killed since 2004 when violence related to a separatist insurgency reignited in the Deep South. The region encompasses the predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking provinces of Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and four districts of Songkhla province.
Since 2013, Malaysia has facilitated different sets of peace talks between Thailand and southern insurgent groups.
Udomchai Thammasarorat, a former Thai army general, and Abdul Rahim Noor, a former Malaysian national police chief, met for the first time in Bangkok last month after their governments appointed them as their new top representatives in Malaysia-brokered peace talks.
The pair met in Bangkok over two days and on the sidelines of Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's first state visit to Thailand since his Pakatan Harapan alliance was elected in May. Officials from the two countries said this signaled a fresh start in the peace process.
Mahathir, during a joint news conference with his Thai counterpart, Prayuth Chan-o-cha, promised to help solve the conflict. Prayuth reaffirmed that the talks would go on with Malaysia in a role as peace broker.
Meanwhile, a Thai security source told BenarNews that the insurgents were looking to resume talks with an elected government as Thailand was expected to hold general elections in early 2019.
On Nov. 4, unidentified gunmen shot dead defense volunteer Winai Haji as he rode a motorcycle home in Bacho, a district in Yala. Six days later, a Muslim man was shot and killed in Thepa district of Songkhla province.
Police said they were still trying to establish motive in both killings.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

The death of a 13-year-old boxer is spurring government efforts to make Thailand's national sport safer for children, officials and boxing insiders said Wednesday.
Just last week a group of prominent Muay Thai fighters lobbied the government to axe a bill that would set the minimum age at 12 – a move they said would damage athlete development and make it harder for Thai boxers to compete internationally, according to The Nation.
The weekend death of teen boxer Anucha Tasako cast the issue in a new light.
Gen. Prawit Wongsuwan, Thailand's deputy prime minister and president of the National Olympic Committee of Thailand, led a meeting Wednesday of government agencies involved with the sport to consider safety measures.
"The president of the National Olympic Committee of Thailand has told the Ministry of Tourism and Sports to carefully consider the NLA-proposed bill to increase safety for boxers, the young ones in particular," Prawit spokesman Maj. Gen. Kongcheep Tantrawanich told reporters.
The bill before Thailand's National Legislative Assembly (NLA) would ban boxers younger than 12 from competing in professional matches and set punishments for organizers who break that rule, officials said.
Other changes being considered include requiring head gear, elbow and knee pads be worn by boxers 15 and younger.
Muay Thai allows boxers to punch, kick, knee and elbow their opponents. Anucha, who died from a brain haemorrhage, was not wearing protective gear during his three-round charity bout in Samut Prakan province, southeast of Bangkok.
Damrong Tasako, Anucha's uncle and trainer, spoke at the boy's funeral on Tuesday.
"I would like the boxers younger than 15 or 12 to use protective gear to lessen the impact, like in the amateur Thai boxing," Damrong told reporters. "For boxers 15 or older, they can fight without the protection."
Muay Thai is hugely popular in Thailand and attracts boys in rural areas who seek to support their families.
Sukrit Praekreetawet, a lawyer associated with the sport, said Anucha's death was unprecedented.
"To start younger helps career development. To start late will deter development and boxers would not be as good as the older generation," Sukrit said. "Many boxing aficionados oppose the amendment."
Child rights activists and doctors have argued in favour of the bill, saying punches and kicks can cause brain damage in young boxers and lead to neurological problems later in life, The Nation reported.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

An American TV show that ruffled Thailand's government is just fiction, the U.S. embassy said Tuesday as it responded to questions about the flap.
A fictional portrayal of the Thai government was the subject of a recent episode of the political drama Madam Secretary that aired on the CBS television network on Nov. 4. But the instalment dealt with the real-life issue of Lese-Majeste – the Thai law that guards strictly against defaming the country's powerful royalty.
"This television show is a fictional work, an expression of the show's creators, and is not a reflection of U.S. government views," U.S. embassy spokeswoman Jillian Bonnardeaux told BenarNews via email.
Last weekend, Thailand's military-run government publically expressed its objections.
The episode "presented the Kingdom of Thailand and the Thai monarchy in a misleading manner, leading to grave concern and dismay from many Thais who have seen it," the Ministry of Foreign affairs told AFP on Sunday.
The next day, Busadee Santipitaks, a spokeswoman for the ministry, told BenarNews it had instructed the Thai embassy in Washington "to convey our concerns to the producer, CBS, on the contents of the episode 'Ghosts.'"
The network "should be aware of the feelings of Thai people. We hope in the future, the producer is sensitive about the issue," Busadee said, while declining to identify portions of the episode deemed inappropriate.
On Tuesday, a New York-based spokeswoman for CBS's entertainment division declined comment.
The episode's plot features the character of Rochana Arak (played by Kimiko Gelman), a Thai-born professor who travels to Thailand to give a speech at a religious freedom conference. But she is arrested there in front of her ex-boyfriend, Henry McCord (played by Tim Daly).
McCord, a presidential adviser and husband of Secretary of State Elizabeth McCord (played by Tea Leoni) successfully petitions the king for a royal pardon. However, the monarch dies and McCord and Rochana are captured by the Thai military, leading Washington to launch a hostage rescue mission.
"Thailand is a country where free speech doesn't exist," Leoni's secretary of state laments.
In reality, the Thai monarchy is shielded by Lese-Majeste, which forbids insults to members of the royalty and carries a prison term of up to 15 years for violations. At least 94 Thais were prosecuted under the law, from when the junta seized power through a coup in May 2014 till August, according to iLaw, a human rights advocacy group.
Bonnardeaux, the real-life U.S. embassy official, noted that the U.S. and Thailand celebrated the 200th anniversary of their friendship this year.
Thailand is "our most enduring ally in Asia," she told Benar, and "our relationship with the Kingdom of Thailand remains one of our most important in Asia."


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

Thailand's military government on Wednesday urged all elements of the most powerful separatist group in the nation's Deep South to join Malaysia-brokered peace talks.
Prawit Wongsuwan, the Thai deputy prime minister and defense chief, said all parties within the National Revolutionary Front rebel group, or BRN, should participate in negotiations to resolve an insurgency that has killed nearly 7,000 people during the past 14 years.
"Most of insurgent movements have joined the talks but the BRN is the only one who hasn't joined," Prawit told reporters.
Prawit was apparently referring to the BRN's military wing.
"The political wing has joined," he said. "We want all the movements to come out so that we can talk."
It is highly unusual for a top Thai government official to mention the BRN by name, analysts said. Thai officials usually refer to southern rebels as "dissidents."
Last month, Udomchai Thammasarorat, Thailand's new chief negotiator in the peace process, said the Buddhist-majority nation was open to hold talks with "all dissident groups."
Prawit made the statement after meeting with Malaysian Defense Minister Mohamad Sabu, who was wrapping up his two-day visit to Bangkok on Wednesday.
The Deep South encompasses the predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking provinces of Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and four districts of Songkhla province and lies along peninsular Malaysia's northern border.
Prawit made the statement after meeting with Malaysian Defense Minister Mohamad Sabu, who was wrapping up his two-day visit to Bangkok on Wednesday.
Malaysia is facilitating the peace talks between the Thai government and MARA Patani – an umbrella group that claims to negotiate on behalf of all the southern rebel groups and includes BRN representatives on its panel.
Earlier, Mohamad Sabu told reporters that his first official visit to Thailand would focus on resolving the Deep South conflict. Many residents in the Deep South provinces have family ties with Malaysians, especially those living in the border states of Perlis, Kelantan and Kedah.
"What happens in southern Thailand affects both countries, that is why we must find the best resolution, through negotiations, defense diplomacy and various other means," Mohamad Sabu told the Malaysian news service Bernama on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, Mohamad Sabu spent about 45 minutes discussing bilateral security concerns with Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha at Government House in Bangkok, Lt. Gen. Werachon Sukhondhapatipak, deputy government spokesman, told reporters.
Last month, the Bangkok daily The Nation quoted unidentified BRN members as saying that their leaders were not interested in joining MARA Patani at the negotiating table and warning that Malaysia could risk compromising its role in the talks.
"These so-called peace practitioners, domestic and foreign, could be going along with this shrewd strategy of Thailand without realizing that they are being played," one BRN operative said, according to newspaper.
BRN members also expressed concern that pressure from Malaysia to get them to the table could undermine peace efforts in the long run, the report said.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

Thailand's new chief negotiator said Tuesday he had asked the Malaysian facilitator of Deep South peace talks to invite the leader of the most powerful insurgent group to the table so that all the armed separatist organizations would be represented.
The Thai side is looking to include Doonloh Wae-mano, (alias Abdullah Wan Mat Noor), chairman of the supreme council of the National Revolutionary Front or BRN, in the Malaysia-brokered negotiations, Thai delegation head Udomchai Thammasarorat said.
"We are reorganizing the peace-talk team. The approach is we want to talk with the 'de facto' representatives of all dissident groups and MARA Patani," Udomchai told BenarNews in a phone interview. "Dissident" is a term used by officials from the Thai military government to describe the southern rebels.
MARA Patani is an umbrella group that claims to negotiate on behalf of all the Deep South insurgent groups. It includes BRN representatives on its panel.
"Whether he himself would join or not, or accept the invitation or not, I cannot get involved," Udomchai added, referring to Doonloh. "Previously, he said MARA Patani was not his group. We try to talk with the group under his control, so we asked the facilitator to coordinate."
Udomchai, a retired general who served as the Fourth Army regional commander overseeing the Deep South, recently replaced Aksara Kerdpol as Thailand's chief peace negotiator in the south. Abdul Rahim Noor was tasked with the facilitator role for Malaysia by the new government of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.
"Every group must join so we talk it over once and for all," Udomchai said. "We don't force anyone to join but we requested the facilitator to help."
Back in 2004, the year the longtime insurgency flared up again in Thailand's southern border region, Doonloh was headmaster of the Jihad Witaya School in Pattani province. He was later accused of training militants who looted a fort in Cho I-rong, a district in neighboring Narathiwat province, that year.
Doonloh succeeded Spae-ing Baso, who died in January 2017, as head of BRN's supreme council.
Last year, after bomb attacks at a Pattani super store injured about 80 people, then-Thai Army Chief Gen. Chalermchai Sitthisart publicly condemned Doonloh for extremist attacks.
Thai officials, who posted a 10 million baht (U.S. $302,000) bounty on Doonloh, reported that he fled to and was living in Malaysia.
'We won't propose a ceasefire'
Since a new set of talks began in mid-2015 between rebel groups and the Thai junta, negotiators have sought to establish a limited ceasefire in a specific area of the Deep South, to be dubbed a safety zone. Thai officials claimed last year that both sides had agreed to establish such a zone in Cho I-rong district.
But in his comments to BenarNews, Udomchai appeared to back away from this idea, although it was not clear whether he had taken if off the table completely.
"We won't propose a ceasefire, it is useless because violence is their tool," Udomchai said. "The more a ceasefire is discussed, the more violence occurs as they use it as a bargaining tool."
"We will talk about how to co-develop the areas, making them trade zones, not war zones," he said.
Days after the two sides had announced in February 2017 that they would work together to establish a safety zone, eight people were killed and four injured in attacks blamed on insurgents.
On Tuesday, after a monthly meeting of the nation's defense council meeting, Thai Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan responded to reporters' questions about Doonloh.
"He refused to come out three times already," Prawit said. "I don't know what doubts he has in his mind. I let the facilitator coordinate with him."
In Malaysia, Abdul Rahim had little to say when asked about the status of the talks.
"I cannot comment on the issue at the moment," he told BenarNews. "The Thai government requested that the peace process be put under wraps, so unless there's a change in the policy, I cannot divulge it to the public."
MARA Patani officials in Malaysia did not respond to requests for comment.
The predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking Deep South borders Malaysia and encompasses Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala provinces as well as four districts in Songkhla province. Nearly 7,000 people have been killed in violence in the region since the decades-old insurgency re-ignited 14 years ago.
Wilawan Watcharasakvet in Bangkok and Muzliza Mustafa in Kuala Lumpur contributed to this report.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

A former Bahrain football player will remain under detention in Bangkok for 12 more days, Thai officials said Tuesday, pending a decision from authorities about whether to send him to Bahrain where he was convicted of a crime, or to Australia where has a refugee status.
Hakeem AlAraibi, 25, was detained on Nov. 27 when he arrived for vacation at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport from Australia. Authorities said his arrest was based on an Interpol "Red Notice" issued at Bahrain's request.
"Thailand's foreign ministry is speeding up document examination, including the arrest warrant from Bahrain to determine whether it's valid or not," immigration police chief Surachate Hakpan told BenarNews.
"Then, officials will have to forward all the documents to the public prosecutors for their consideration before submitting to the court who may see the arrest warrant valid, thus allowing the police to hand him over to Bahrain," he said.
AlAraibi's 12-day remand at a Thai detention center started Monday after a court approved the immigration bureau's request to give them enough time to decide on his case, Surachate said.
Surachate said he had discussed AlAraibi's detention with Paul Stephens, Australia's deputy head of mission, on Monday.
"I told the envoy that if the investigation finds the footballer cleared of all cases, he could be sent to his requested country," Surachet said.
"He told me he wants to go to Australia," Surachet said. "He doesn't want to go to Bahrain."
Bahrain has no extradition treaty with Thailand, but a legal expert told BenarNews that an extradition could be done on reciprocal basis or through a special agreement.
AlAraibi, who is a professional football player in Melbourne, remains openly critical of the government of Bahrain and the current Bahraini president of the Asian Football Confederation, Sheikh Salman Al-Khalifa, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW).
HRW, in a statement, underscored Thailand's legal responsibility to respect the international law principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits countries from returning refugees to a country where they may face torture or other serious human rights violations.
AlAraibi fled Bahrain two years after he was allegedly tortured by authorities while under detention in 2012. He was granted asylum in Australia last year, rights groups said.
Bahrain, through its embassy in Thailand, said in a Twitter post that AlAraibi "is wanted for security cases." It did not elaborate.
Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, director of Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD), urged the United Nations and Australia to fight for AlAraibi's return to Melbourne "to prevent a disastrous outcome."
"If Hakeem is extradited to Bahrain, he is at great risk of facing torture and unlawful imprisonment," he said in a statement. "His extradition would constitute to refoulement and therefore would be a clear breach of international law."
Rights groups said AlAraibi was sentenced in absentia in 2014 to 10 years in prison after he was convicted of vandalizing a police station in Bahrain. But AlAraibi denied the charge and claimed he was playing a football match that was televised live when the alleged crime occurred.
In an interview with Australia's Special Broadcasting Service last week, AlAraibi said he feared for his life if he were to be returned to Bahrain.
"It's very dangerous there [for me]," he said. "In Bahrain, they want to kill me."
Amnesty International Australia on Tuesday called on Thai authorities to end AlAraibi's detention.
"Thai immigration must release him now and allow him to come home to Australia," Diana Sayed, campaigner for Amnesty International Australia, told Australian reporters. "Hakeem will not be safe until he is back on Australian soil."
Amnesty, in a statement, said AlAraibi's sentencing in Bahrain was a result of an "unfair trial."
"A former player of Bahrain's national soccer team, he has spoken out about a senior Bahraini official's practice of torturing footballers who participate in demonstrations," it said. "He was himself arrested in November 2012 and tortured."


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

Leaders of Thailand's major political parties on Wednesday turned down a meeting organized by the junta, which sought to bring more than 100 parties together to discuss their platforms ahead of the first elections due after almost five years of military rule.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha, the junta chief who led a military coup in May 2014 that toppled the civilian government of Yingluck Shinawatra amid bloody street protests, had called the meeting for Friday. In addition, Prayuth said he would discuss the possibility of lifting a ban on political gatherings leading up to nationwide polls planned for February 2019.
Earlier this year, police charged seven pro-democracy activists with sedition and defying a ban on public gatherings for leading a January demonstration that drew about 100 people in downtown Bangkok. They allegedly violated a junta order prohibiting public political gatherings of five or more people.
Prayuth's invitation ran into resistance from at least four major parties whose leaders claimed he was seeking to extend the junta's grip on power through at least one proxy, the Palang Pracharat Party (PPP), which announced that it would nominate him for prime minister.
The Pheu Thai Party, the Thai Raksa Chart Party (a splinter of Pheu Thai), the Future Forward Party and the Democrat Party are expected to gain seats in the upcoming parliament election scheduled for February. The election appears to be moving forward after a series of delays by Prayuth, who, early on during his government's rule, promised to steer Thailand back on a path to democracy.
"The Palang Pracharat Party has different views on many things," said Abhisit Vejjajiva, the leader of the Democrat Party, one of Thailand's largest political parties. "It consolidates the power to run the nation by taking members of parliament from other parties. That is not the democratic way."
"I think it isn't constructive politics or a reform. So I don't see a need to talk," added Abhisit, who served as prime minister before Yingluck.
MPs change parties
About 40 leaders of Pheu Thai Party, which had been led by Yingluck and previously by her brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, have defected to the PPP. Both Yingluck and Thaksin lost control of government through military coups and are living in exile outside of Thailand.
"The migration of MPs shows that there might be some groups maneuvering in support of Prayuth or the military," said Titipol Phakdeewanich, dean of the political science faculty at Ubon Ratchathani University.
Meanwhile, Sudarat Keyuraphan, a Pheu Thai leader, said the junta lacked legitimacy to conduct an election. She reiterated that her party would not attend the meeting.
"The government conducts popular subsidy projects called Pracharat that are linked to the political party with the same name," Sudarat told reporters on Wednesday. "It is wrong in principle, therefore it's useless to meet and discuss."
On Tuesday, Prayuth spoke to reporters about his plans to meet with political leaders.
"My goal is to support political parties that seek to move the country forward," Prayuth said. "So other parties should tell us their political strategies.
"If they don't want to talk, I don't care. If they don't join the meeting, it means they don't want an election," he said. "They don't respect the rules, how can we be together? How can they set up a government?"
Analysts expect Prayuth to benefit from a senate under the control of the junta if he were to run for office. He has not announced if he wants to be nominated to serve as prime minister.
A constitution approved through a 2016 referendum added 100 seats to the senate and allows the military to appoint all  250 senators. All senators have the power to help members of the 500-seat National Legislative Assembly appoint a new prime minister, meaning Prayuth would need the support of only 126 MPs to give him 376 votes and retain his power.
Despite concerns about the pro-junta PPP, the Democrat Party has to choose between joining it or forming a coalition with other parties if it has any chance of stopping Prayuth, according to Uchane Cheangsan, a political science professor at Walailuck University.
"If the party wants to get rid of Prayuth, members must isolate him and force him to find support from lesser parties instead, but it is unlikely to happen," Uchane told BenarNews.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

A Thai court has remanded a football player with Australian refugee status for 60 more days of custody as prosecutors examine evidence that could lead to him being extradited to his home country of Bahrain, his lawyer said Tuesday.
Hakeem AlAraibi, 25, may have to defend his case for one or two years, despite pressure from international rights groups calling for his release, his attorney, Sanya Kiatjongdee, told reporters.
"Earlier, he was remanded under the immigration law, but today he is so under the extradition law," Sanya said.
AlAraibi was detained last month when he and his wife arrived at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport at the start of a vacation trip to Thailand. He holds refugee status in Australia, where he plays football for a Melbourne club. But Thai authorities said his arrest was based on an Interpol "Red Notice" put out by Bahrain, which had sentenced him in absentia for vandalism.
"I don't want to go back to Bahrain. I want to go back to Australia," AlAraibi told reporters on Tuesday as immigration agents led the handcuffed Bahraini into the court, which extended his detention to 60 days and denied him bail.
"I didn't do anything in Bahrain," he said. "I'm a refugee in Australia. I'm going to have citizenship soon in Australia."
Thai prosecutors were still waiting for Bahrain to send documents to Thailand's foreign ministry for her client's extradition, Sanya said, emphasizing that the attorney general would review the papers' validity.
"If the case is valid, they will file the extradition request to the court," Sanya said. "[AlAraibi] would need to fight for a year or two," he said. "If [we end up] losing, we will appeal."
Bahrain has no extradition treaty with Thailand, but a legal expert told BenarNews earlier that an extradition could be done on a reciprocal basis or through a special agreement, with Bangkok rendering a decision based on a court verdict.
On Monday, Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne urged Thai authorities to release AlAraibi.
"Yes, we are very concerned by his ongoing detention in Thailand and have called and written to my colleague, Foreign Minister Don (Pramudwinai), seeking his immediate return to Australia," Payne said, according to transcripts provided by her ministry's website, during the launch of Australia's annual public diplomacy campaign.
"Mr. AlAraibi was provided with permanent residency by the Australian government in 2017, in recognition of his status as a refugee and if he is returned to Bahrain that would be in contravention of his international human rights given his status," she said.
AlAraibi remains openly critical of Bahrain's government and the current Bahraini president of the Asian Football Confederation, Sheikh Salman Al-Khalifa, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW).
AlAraibi fled Bahrain two years after he was allegedly tortured by authorities while under detention in 2012. He was granted asylum last year in Australia, where he plays for a Melbourne football club, rights groups said.
In 2014, Bahrain sentenced AlAraibi to 10 years in prison after he was convicted of vandalizing a police station. But AlAraibi denied the charge and claimed he was playing a football match that was televised live when the alleged crime occurred.
International human rights organizations, including the world football confederation FIFA, have joined forces to demand AlAraibi's release.
Phil Robertson, a deputy Asia director for HRW, described Bahrain's criminal case against AlAraibi as "a totally bogus, politically manufactured fiction that is hardly worth the paper it's written on."
"So what game is Thailand playing by extending the remand on Hakeem for 60 days?" Robertson told BenarNews in an emailed statement. "Any serious analysis of facts and Thailand's international human rights commitments shows that there is no other choice but to send him to Australia."


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

Thailand's junta chief on Tuesday lifted a four-year ban on political activities ahead of the nation's first election since a 2014 coup, but critics called for leaders of the military government to step aside to allow fair polls in February.
In a Royal Gazette posting effective Tuesday, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha determined that now was the time to lift political restrictions because a royal decree on the general election was approaching. He also leads the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) – the official name of the junta.
"It is apparent that there will be an election in the near future, which is a crucial transition for the country's future, therefore, people should take part in choosing political parties to govern the country freely. And it is appropriate to allow parties to campaign and present policies to the people," an excerpt from Prayuth's announcement in the Royal Gazette stated.
Prayuth, a former army general who led a coup that toppled a civilian government in May 2014, installed himself as prime minister and head of the NCPO. As a result of decrees enforced soon after the coup, the junta barred more than five people from gathering in public, muffled dissenters' voices and prohibited parties from conducting political activities.
In Tuesday's gazette announcement, Prayuth partially or fully revoked nine orders including the one banning political gatherings of more than five people. The action is not retroactive.
The posting also called for the releasing of bank accounts of some politicians who saw their assets frozen for alleged law violations.
King Maha Vajiralongkorn is expected to endorse the royal decree next month, setting the election date for February, according to a government spokesman and politicians running for office.
On Friday, the Thai election commission announced that nationwide polls would be held on Feb. 24, 2019. The announcement followed a meeting between Prayuth and leaders of about 100 political parties the same day.
Earlier this year, police charged seven pro-democracy activists with sedition and defying a ban on public gatherings for leading a demonstration in January that drew about 100 people in downtown Bangkok. They had allegedly violated the junta order prohibiting public political gatherings of five or more people.
Opposition leader reacts
Sombat Boonngamanong, the leader of a small party who faced a sedition charge and had his finances frozen, reacted negatively to Prayuth's announcement.
"The lifting, the fanfare of the day, doesn't mark the return to democracy but it means the junta is ready to jump into the election. It is also a player," Sombat told BenarNews in a phone interview.
Previously, political observers said Prayuth was seeking to retain his grip on power through at least one proxy, the Palang Pracharat Party (PPP), which announced that it would nominate him for prime minister. The PPP is accused of poaching MPs from other parties, including Pheu Thai Party, the military's arch rival that has been led by the Shinawatra family.
'A hindrance to freedom'
Prayuth assumed power after overthrowing the government of Yingluck Shinawatra, which was elected in 2011. Her brother, Thaksin, was ousted from the prime minister's office in 2006 through a similar military coup. Both are living abroad in exile.
Titipol Phakdeewanich, dean of the political science faculty at Ubon Ratchathani University, said the junta should revoke Section 44 of the constitution, or leaders should step down from power in the run-up to the election.
Section 44 replaced martial law and gave Prayuth and his government sweeping powers to censor the media, make arrests without court warrants and take civilians to military court. It also gave him power to impose orders to cover anything he wanted including the ban on political gatherings.
"If they want to run in the election, the NCPO should announce that its members won't exercise Section 44 or just stop their roles in politics for the sake of fair and free election," Titipol told BenarNews. "To have the NCPO in power is a hindrance to freedom."


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

Thailand will raise the minimum age for Muslims to marry without parental consent from 15 to 17 – effective Friday – following an international outcry over the wedding of an 11-year-old girl in June, officials said Wednesday.
Wisoot Binlatah, director of the southern office of the Sheikhul Islam, the body that oversees Islamic matters in predominantly Buddhist Thailand, said its top leader, Aziz Phitakkumpon, had endorsed the Islamic Committee of Thailand's call to increase the minimum age for Muslims to marry.
"Sheikhul Islam signed the Regulations of the Central Islamic Council of Thailand regarding person(s) under the age of 17 in 2018 and officials will announce nationwide at every mosque to all religious leaders to acknowledge and put in use effective Dec. 14," Wisoot told BenarNews.
To protect the rights of children, the Islamic Committee appointed a set of sub-committees, which must include at least one woman who is knowledgeable in Islam.
The endorsement will allow for younger Muslims to marry if they have parental or court approval, Wisoot said.
The government in the Thai Deep South, which is predominantly Muslim, is getting involved in the effort.
"The SBPAC will translate the regulations into Bahasa Malay and propose organizing a seminar on human rights for women and children in the Deep South provinces to promote this delightful practice," Panadda Isho, legal specialist of Southern Border Provinces Administrative Center (SBPAC), told BenarNews. "The regulations will be applied throughout the country as well."
Under Thai law, a woman can marry at 20 without parental consent but can marry at 17 with her parents' approval or at 15 through court order, according to legal experts. The four provinces in the Muslim-dominated Deep South are exempt from the law and follow the sharia court.
Earlier this year, a sharia court in Malaysia's Kelantan state fined a man 1,800 ringgit (U.S. $446) after he pleaded guilty to two charges stemming from his Islamic marriage in southern Thailand to an 11-year-old Thai girl, local media reported in July.
The 41-year-old man, who was already married to another woman, was charged with solemnizing a marriage and polygamy without obtaining the court's permission under Malaysia's Kelantan Islamic Family Law, Malaysian media outlet reported at the time.
Thailand's human rights commission challenged the marriage and its commissioner called for the Thai government to change the law.
"The National Human Rights Commission is concerned that underage marriage (under 18 years of age) of a woman, a deprival of education and chance to development into adulthood, is inconsistent with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Children Protection Act," the commission said in a statement.
"Thailand should pass a law to ban underage marriage in all cases. Underage marriage of the poor is an exploitation of children by the adult husband. It is multiple violations of children," human rights commissioner Angkhana Neelapaijit told BenarNews in July.
"Mostly girls, when they are in their teens, their families will rush to arrange a marriage, especially families with difficult situations, they want their daughters to marry to reduce their burden," she said.
Child bride speaks out
Gaya, who asked that her last name not be used, told BenarNews about her experience.
"I had an arranged marriage by my family when I was 15, but that did not last long," she said. "So I fortunately did not have children, so I could go back to school and work at the same time, though I could not finish school because my family arranged another marriage for me, and I could not do anything but to follow.
"I feel good and agree with this new regulation. I believe about 80 percent of children ages 14 to 16 are unwilling to marry and have the same feeling I had," Gaya said.
SBPAC legal specialist Panadda Isho said the new regulation will be effective on the day it is endorsed by the Sheikhul Islam (the nation's Islamic leader), adding that it allowed for some loopholes.
"A person under the age of 17 can marry with a written court order or a written parental consent which is recorded at the Provincial Islamic Committee Office where the parent(s) want to marry their child or at the police station in that area," Panadda told BenarNews.
Marriage is subject to the supervision of the Islamic Provincial Committee or the Islamic Committee of the mosque and the authorized person who performs marriage under Islamic Law.
"I know they have changed the regulations. It is a progress of the Sheikhul Islam Office to protect the right of the girls who will have a premature marriage. Because it is concerned about reproductive health, and for children to receive appropriate education so they can take care of themselves and their children when they are ready," human rights commissioner Angkhana told BenarNews.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

Hundreds of Thai women were lured to the United States to work in brothels across the country, U.S. prosecutors said, as they announced that five people had been convicted of various charges for their involvement in "modern-day sex slavery."
Prosecutors said a federal jury on Wednesday found the five people guilty of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking and other charges after a six-week trial in St. Paul, Minnesota.
"The defendants ... participated in a massive yet brutally efficient criminal enterprise that trafficked hundreds of vulnerable Thai women for sexual exploitation and used sophisticated money-laundering techniques," Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski told a news conference in Washington on Thursday.
Busadee Santipitaks, spokeswoman for the Thai ministry of foreign affairs, told BenarNews on Friday that Bangkok was "looking into the matter."
"We believe we have file of this case but we cannot comment now," she said.
Lt. Gen. Worawat Watnakorn, commander of Thailand's anti-human trafficking police, also declined to give a reaction.
"I have my deputy following up on this issue," he told BenarNews. 

The women, who were from impoverished backgrounds and spoke little or no English, were coerced to participate in the criminal scheme through misleading promises of a better life in the United States and the ability to provide money to their families in Thailand, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a statement.
"Once in the United States, the victims were sent to houses of prostitution where they were forced to have sex with strangers – every day – for up to 12 hours a day, at times having sex with 10 men a day," it said.
The victims were not allowed to leave the houses of prostitution, unless accompanied by a member of the criminal organization, and were moved around the country and their families in Thailand were threatened, the statement also said.
The suspects – who were arrested as part of an international law-enforcement operation dubbed "Bangkok Dark Nights" – helped the women obtain fraudulent visas and travel documents and lied to them about the size of their debts, often more than $40,000, according to the Star Tribune newspaper, quoting prosecutors.
"This was modern-day sex slavery," Assistant U.S. Attorney Melinda Williams told jurors Monday, according to the Star-Tribune.
The DOJ, in its statement, said the suspects used fictitious backgrounds and occupations for the victims and instructed them to enter into fraudulent marriages to increase the likelihood that the women's visa applications would be approved.
Authorities recovered U.S. $1.5 million in cash and about $15 million in judgments through plea agreements, prosecutors said.
Michael Morris, 65, of Seal Beach, California; Pawinee Unpradit, 46, of Dallas, Texas; Saowapha Thinram, 44, of Hutto, Texas; Thoucharin Ruttanamongkongul, 35, of Chicago Illinois; and Waralee Wanless, 39, of The Colony, Texas, were convicted after being accused of running a sex trafficking operation that lasted more than a decade, prosecutors said, adding that 31 defendants had previously pleaded guilty for their roles in the sex trafficking operation.
Lawyers for the five defendants have not disputed that their clients participated in the sex trade, noting that prostitution is not a federal crime, according to the Star-Tribune. Defense attorneys told reporters they would appeal, insisting that the Thai women were willful participants.
Some of the victims testified during trial, narrating how they were forced to have sex with multiple men to pay off what they owed the traffickers, prosecutors said.
"Sex trafficking is a horrific crime that seeks to erode the human dignity of victims," Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband told reporters.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

One of Thailand's richest tycoons testified Wednesday at his closed-door trial on charges that he and other defendants poached a black panther and other animals at a national wildlife reserve in western Kanchanaburi province early this year.
Premchai Karnasuta, the president of construction giant Italian-Thai PLC, spoke to reporters as he walked with a cane to the provincial court in Thong Pha Phum district to testify and listen to another witness take the stand. Premchai was the first witness to testify as the trial's defense-testimony phase began, court officials said.
"Excited, excited," said Premchai, who looked relaxed as he walked toward the courtroom before Wednesday's hearing, after arriving in a luxury SUV.
Hours later, he had little to say as he emerged from the court.
"I'm tired. ... Let it be the court's consideration," he told reporters.
Prosecutor Somjet Ammuaysawat told BenarNews that the defense phase consisting of eight witnesses, including the defendants, would conclude by year's end.
"I don't know when the court will call for a verdict," Somjet said.
Premchai and his three alleged accomplices were arrested at Thung Yai Naresuan National Park in early February. In May, they pleaded not guilty and were released on bail after being indicted on six charges stemming from the alleged poaching of a black panther and other animals.
Park rangers alleged that the four had the skinned carcass of a panther, as well as a Kalij pheasant and a barking deer – three species protected under Thai law. Authorities released photos of rangers measuring the panther's pelt and announced they had seized three rifles and ammunition from Premchai.
Premchai last appeared in court when his trial opened in late November. He has since skipped proceedings involving dozens of prosecution witnesses, citing health and job-related reasons.
The court called for closed-door hearings because the case has been widely reported and officials expressed concern that reporting on testimony could cause contempt of court or affect the judicial process, according to defense lawyers, a prosecutor and an observer.
In general, closed-door trials are reserved for national security or royal defamation cases.
Reporters who waited outside received a note from a court official that Premchai had testified. Another defendant, Yong Dodkreu, was the only other witness in Wednesday's session.
"Premchai is getting better and is ready to give his accounts," Kijja Ali-Isho who represents Premchai's co-defendant, told reporters while Premchai's lawyer avoided talking to media because the court had asked him to be mindful of the case's sensitivity.
Premchai and the others were indicted on charges of poaching in a wildlife sanctuary; hunting endangered species; possessing carcasses of endangered species; attempting to hide those carcasses; hunting in a forest reserve without a permit; and illegal possession of firearms. Permit and firearms violations each carry maximum sentences of 10 years while poaching carries a maximum sentence of five years.
The Thong Pha Phum court also charged Premchai and one of his alleged accomplices with offering a bribe to rangers to not file charges. In addition, Premchai and his wife face charges in a Bangkok criminal court of possessing illegal firearms and illegally possessing four African elephant tusks.
The black panther is a subspecies of the Indochinese black leopard, according to environmentalists who said about 900 to 2,500 remain in the wild, of which only 11 percent are the subspecies.
Premchai's company built Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport and the Bangkok Metro system. In May 2017, Forbes magazine listed him among Thailand's 50 richest people, with a net worth of at least U.S. $240 million (7.6 billion baht).


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha has laid the groundwork to entrench the military in power, analysts told BenarNews, as 2018 draws to a close and Thailand prepares for a general election next year – the first since he led an army coup that toppled a civilian government in 2014.
In 2018, after multiple earlier postponements and repeated promises of steering the country back on a democratic path and returning government to civilian rule, the retired general who heads the junta set into motion the final steps for holding national polls between February and May 2019.
But observers likened the past year's moves to the military stage-managing the country's first general election since 2011, when Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra came to power.
"This election doesn't mean a return to democracy, but a return to the same old power structure in the name of democracy," said Titipol Phakdeewanich, dean of the political science faculty at Ubon Ratchathani University, 611 km (381 miles) northeast of Bangkok.
"It isn't a real democracy, but just a move by the junta to legitimize its retention of power," he told BenarNews.
Titipol echoed criticism espoused by opposition figures, academicians and others, who have accused the junta under Prayuth of taking calculated steps to fortify its power base, ensuring the military's influence over politics even after the 2019 election.
"We can say that the election will not be fair and square," Titipol said. "To have a fair and square election, there must be transparency and an equal chance for politicians and parties to speak freely. At the moment, we don't have full freedom of expression."
Titipol was referring to an array of laws aimed at gagging dissent that were been passed by the junta-backed parliament, in a country that already had Lese-Majeste, a strict anti-royal defamation law that forbids insults to members of the Thai monarchy.
PM: Constitution 'legitimate'
Prayuth, 64, oversaw the passing of a new constitution just two years after he launched a putsch following months of protests against Yingluck. She is now in self-imposed exile with her older brother Thaksin, a former telecommunications tycoon who served as prime minister from 2001 until he was also overthrown on Sept. 19, 2006.
The new army-drafted constitution essentially installed the military as a permanent powerbroker, analysts said, because the charter allows for an unelected prime minister and a 250-member Senate entirely appointed by the military.
During an interview with Time magazine in June this year, Prayuth defended the constitution, saying it was passed through an August 2016 referendum supported by 60 percent of more than 16 million voters.
"I believe this constitution is legitimate as it has been approved by the public," Prayuth said. "It has all necessary mechanisms."
Prayuth told Time that seizing power was "the most difficult decision I ever made in my life," but he has also kept a long silence on whether he will try to prolong his public life.
In September, local newspapers quoted Prayuth as telling reporters: "I can say right now that I'm interested in politics."
In early December, the prime minister lifted a four-year ban on political activities ahead of next year's polls.
Prayuth, in a Royal Gazette statement, said he had determined that now was the time to lift political restrictions because a royal decree on the general election was approaching.
"It is apparent that there will be an election in the near future, which is a crucial transition for the country's future, therefore, people should take part in choosing political parties to govern the country freely," he said.
After he toppled Yingluck's government amid street demonstrations that claimed at least 28 lives and injured 700 others, Prayuth installed himself as prime minister and head of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) – the official name of the junta.
Under Prayuth's leadership, the junta filed charges against Yingluck, who fled Thailand in August 2017 before she was to appear in court to hear the verdict over charges of gross negligence in a failed rice subsidy scheme during her tenure.
Both Yingluck and Thaksin claim that the charges against them were politically motivated. They were photographed on Tuesday outside a noodle house in Singapore.
'Process is already transparent'
Analysts also foresee that next year's polls will be tainted with questions about fairness and transparency.
On Wednesday, Thai Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai clarified his controversial statement over allowing international observers at the upcoming election, explaining that having foreigners monitoring the election would only show that Thailand had internal problems.
"I don't mean we should reject international observers," he said. "But we are experienced enough and the process is already transparent."
Since it took power, the junta has issued and enforced decrees, prohibited parties from conducting political activities and barred more than five people from gathering in public. Then it repeatedly delayed the election on the grounds of constitutional and legislative steps necessary to take place before a balloting.
The NCPO has prosecuted about 100 people since taking power on charges of violating Lese-Majeste, under which offenders can be sentenced to as many as 15 years in prison, according to rights groups. The law, which has been in place since 1908, has been increasingly enforced since Prayuth took power.
Earlier this year, police charged seven pro-democracy activists with sedition and defying a ban on public gatherings for leading a January demonstration that drew about 100 people in downtown Bangkok.
Anusorn Unno, dean of sociology and anthropology at Thammasat University in Bangkok, told BenarNews that the upcoming election was planned "to let some parties take an advantage."
"It is highly likely that the junta will hold on to power and will not enter politics outright because of the high risk," Anusorn said. "So they 'play the chase' to find all the ways to win the election."
Views from the people
But Puripong Suthisopapan, a 33-year-old businessman, expressed skepticism by telling BenarNews that he expected Prayuth to enter politics "one way or the other."
"I believe the election will be most unfair," Puripong said, citing reports of cash handouts ahead of the election.
"I believe he wants to retain the power through election for his own benefits," he said, referring to Prayuth.
Three months ago, several members of the junta created the Palang Pracharat Party, which would field candidates in the parliamentary polls. Analysts said it could provide Prayuth a vehicle for his political ambitions.
By running a pro-military party in the general election and wooing other parties in the race for the parliament's lower house, the junta could further dominate politics in Thailand even after the election, analysts said.
Despite comments from academicians and analysts questioning the fairness of next year's balloting, there are still many Thais who believe Prayuth will not manipulate electoral results.
One of them is Kitti Tantivejjanond, 65, a retired businessman who lives in Bangkok
"Prayuth respects the election result and I'm confident he will transfer power to the new government," Kitti told BenarNews.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

A Bangkok court has acquitted Chinese dissident Wu Yuhua of violating Thailand's immigration law, her lawyer said Wednesday, three years after she and her husband fled their homeland, claiming they were targeted by Chinese police for taking part in press freedom protests.
The Pathumwan Municipal Court ruled Tuesday that Wu had entered Thailand with proper documents, Warissara Rungthong, a lawyer with the People Serving People foundation, told BenarNews by phone.
"The court handed down a verdict on Dec. 25, 2018, acquitting the defendant who was tried for illegal entry, because she was proven to have necessary travel documents," Warissara said.
"They are close to receiving asylum from a third country," she added, declining to identify the country for what she described as security reasons.
Wu and her husband, Yang Chong, fled China and made their way to Thailand in February 2015, arriving at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport.
They were arrested on Aug. 2, along with another Chinese national, outside the New Zealand Embassy in Bangkok, where they had hoped to persuade New Zealand officials to consider their asylum application.
Yang was tried and found guilty in November of remaining in the country after his visa had expired. He was sentenced to six months and a fine of 10,000 baht (U.S. $303), but allowed to walk free on a one-year probation because he had no criminal record, court officials said.
The couple told reporters they were initially targeted by Chinese police after taking part in press freedom protests in the southern city of Guangzhou in January 2013.
They fled to Thailand after Wu started a support group for Chinese human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng, who disappeared in China's Xinjiang region in 2010, lawyers said. The couple spent time in the town of Pattaya, about 100 km (62 miles) southeast of Bangkok.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) declared them political refugees in 2017. Lawyers said the couple then started looking for resettlement in a third country amid a global tightening of national immigration policies.
Yang earlier told the court he went to the New Zealand embassy to request asylum, but was detained following an argument over his request.
Thailand has a record of sending refugees from China back home.
In July, authorities in the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing sent rights activist Dong Guangping and political cartoonist Jiang Yefei to prison after they were repatriated from Thailand where they were awaiting resettlement as political refugees. The incident prompted an international outcry.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

Authorities ordered tighter security in southern Thailand on Thursday after two bombs exploded at a beach, damaging an iconic bronze statue of a mermaid but causing no injuries.
No group had claimed responsibility for the blasts that occurred late Wednesday on Samila Beach in Songkhla province, but Gov. Weeranan Pengchan told reporters that investigators were probing whether the explosions were linked to Muslim separatist insurgents in the region.
"[The blasts] are likely linked to insurgents. But to specify exactly, we need time for officials to work on it," Weeranan told a news conference.
"We ordered tighter security and a top alert in Songkhla's risky areas, including Hat Yai," said Weeranan, referring to the province's biggest city where suspected insurgents also carried out a bomb attack that killed four people and injured more than 80 on Sept. 16, 2006.
Prior to the Wednesday blasts, members of the rebel group National Revolutionary Front, or BRN, had recently met at a school in Songkhla's Chana district, a security official, who asked not to be identified, told BenarNews.
"It is likely the work of BRN," he said. "Officials were warned of possible attacks."
Hat Yai sits outside the predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking region known as the Deep South, where nearly 7,000 people have been killed since 2004 in violence related to the insurgency. The troubled region encompasses the provinces of Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and four districts of Songkhla.
One of the explosions slashed the tail of the Golden Mermaid, a bronze sculpture built in 1966 that has become popular with foreign tourists, police said. The other explosion occurred about 300 meters (984 feet) away and close to a giant sculpture of a mouse on the same beach.
On the same day, security forces also found two explosive devices at power posts that had been cut off in Kuan Niang, another district of Songkhla, and four similar bombs tied up on power poles in Bang Klam district.
Weeranan quoted investigators as saying that the bombs may have been planted at the same time as the explosives that damaged the mermaid sculpture.
Police Lt. Gen. Ronnasilp Phusara, who commands the Provincial Police Region 9, said the bombs that damaged the Golden Mermaid could be classified as an improvised explosive device or IED, which was packed in a small iron box and used an inexpensive watch as a timing device.
The IEDs found in the two other districts had the same design, he said.
"The goal is to ruin the province's economy and disrupt New Year festivities," he said.
But the Bangkok Post quoted him as saying that Wednesday's bombings were not politically motivated and likely linked to business disputes.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

The new Malaysian facilitator of peace negotiations in southern Thailand has reached out to insurgents not yet participating in those talks and launched a "dialogue process" with them, he told BenarNews on Thursday.
The revelation came as he confirmed that he would meet in Bangkok on Jan. 4 with the chief Thai negotiator in the talks, who was among those urging a hardline faction of the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (the National Revolutionary Front or BRN) to come to the table in recent weeks.
Asked if he had contacted the BRN faction, Abdul Rahim Noor, the Malaysian facilitator, replied "yes," but went on to clarify that the conversations thus far were preliminary.
"The official term is 'dialogue process.' It is not a discussion, not a negotiation. It is a dialogue," he said in a phone interview.
Rahim Noor also responded to a question about the purpose of next week's scheduled meeting with new Thai delegation head Udomchai Thammasarorat, saying it would be "a step in the process, this ongoing process which will hopefully end with a peace treaty between both parties."
Rahim Noor was appointed in August by the new government in Kuala Lumpur as the facilitator of Malaysia-brokered talks between Thailand's military government and MARA Patani, a panel representing various insurgent groups in peace talks aimed at ending a decades-old conflict in the predominantly Muslim Thai Deep South.
BRN, the largest of the armed separatist groups, is represented at the table, but leaders of the hardline faction that is considered the most powerful one and which controls combatants in the field, have stayed away from the talks that began in 2015.
When asked whether MARA representatives would be at the upcoming meeting in the Thai capital, its spokesman, Abu Hafez Al-Hakim, told Benar it had "nothing to do with us."
MARA's dialogue with the Thai government was "still on hold," he added, alluding to a hiatus dating to early 2018.
BenarNews approached both Rahim Noor and Abu Hafez on Thursday after obtaining a copy of an agenda listing the Jan. 4 meeting and other events related to the peace process, from the secretariat of the Thai negotiating team whose offices are located in the Deep South.
The Jan. 4 event would be an official introductory meeting between "the facilitator" of the talks and the Thai delegation, the agenda noted.
Other events listed on the agenda include a meeting at a military camp in Thailand's southern border region on Jan. 8, followed the next day by a press conference by the Thai team at Prince of Songkla University in Pattani province, where local NGOs will be present.
The agenda did not say whether the Malaysian facilitator would be at those other events.
Then on Jan. 11, the Thai delegation is to hold a press conference related to the peace process at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand (FCCT) in Bangkok, according to the agenda.
Mahathir: 'We have to seek the views of all the factions'
Rahim Noor and his Thai counterpart, who replaced Army Gen. Aksara Kerdpol as the head of Thailand's delegation in October, first met on the sidelines of a state visit to Thailand by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who took power for a second time after leading the opposition to a stunning victory in a May general election.
During his visit two months ago, Mahathir pledged that his government would "help in whatever way possible to end this violence," referring to the conflict in the Deep South.
And during a second visit to Thailand in mid-December, the Malaysian leader told a press conference at Rangsit University that it would take time to solve the problem.
"Finding a solution to the southern Thailand problem is not easy because the conflict involves many factions," Mahathir said, according to Bernama, Malaysia's state news service.
"We have to seek the views of all the factions besides knowing their interests."
The prime minister's latest comments came two weeks after Udomchai, the Thai chief negotiator, said he had asked Rahim Noor to invite the chairman of the BRN's supreme council, Doonloh Wae-mano, (alias Abdullah Wan Mat Noor), to come to the table.
"We are reorganizing the peace-talk team. The approach is we want to talk with the 'de facto' representatives of all dissident groups and MARA Patani," Udomchai told BenarNews at the time, using a term that refers to the southern rebel organizations.
The Malay-speaking Deep South borders Malaysia and encompasses Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala provinces as well as four districts in Songkhla province. Nearly 7,000 people have been killed in violence in the region since the decades-old insurgency re-ignited 14 years ago.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

Four motorcyclists were wounded Friday when a small bomb blew up in a province of Thailand's insurgency-wracked Deep South, where suspected insurgents also planted explosives in several areas and attacked a security detachment using rifles and grenade launchers, police said.
The eruption of attacks across Narathiwat occurred two days after a pair of bombs exploded at a beach in nearby Songkhla province, damaging an iconic bronze statue of a mermaid but causing no injuries.
On Friday evening, a bomb blast slightly injured four people on motorcycles at a bridge in Narathiwat's Si Sakhon district, provincial police chief Maj. Gen. Dusadee Chusangkij told BenarNews.
"I told all police stations to stay alert to prevent more attacks," Dusadee said. "I believe the attackers are insurgents active in the areas."
In Ra-ngae district, about 40 km (25 miles) northwest of Si Sakhon, security forces traded gunfire with suspected insurgents who opened fire at a defense outpost at a small village, Dusadee said.
The attackers used rifles and M-79 grenade launchers, but there were no reports of casualties from both sides, he said.
"They exchanged fires with rifles and M-79 grenade launcher for about a half hour," Dusadee said. "The attackers finally retreated into the darkness."
No insurgent group had claimed responsibility for the attacks, he said.
Police also recovered six small bombs attached to lamp posts or randomly planted on the sides of streets in Chanae and Tak Bai districts, he said, without providing details.
Almost 7,000 people have been killed since 2004 in violence related to the insurgency in the Buddhist-majority nation's so-called Deep South, a predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking region. The troubled region encompasses the provinces of Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and four districts of Songkhla.
At least 10 officials, including members of security forces, have been killed since October in attacks blamed on insurgents, Col. Tanawee Suwannarat, the deputy spokesman for the Internal Security Operations Command Region 4, told BenarNews.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

King Maha Vajiralongkorn, who succeeded his late father more than two years ago, will be crowned in early May, the Thai prime minister announced Wednesday, adding that this would not impact a general election tentatively scheduled for Feb. 24.
A day after the Royal Household Bureau gave the coronation date, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha said he had invited Princess Sirindhorn to chair a committee to organize the three-day ceremony, scheduled for May 4 to 6.
"Whether the election date remains Feb. 24, we are not going to discuss this, there is no change," he told reporters following a cabinet meeting. Prayuth became prime minister in 2014 after leading a military coup to overthrow the democratic government of Yingluck Shinawatra.
"It is up to the EC to successfully implement it or not, based on circumstances," he said.
"We give priority to the coronation ceremony, the key event for us Thais, but things can be conducted in conjunction," he said.
Titipol Phakdeewanich, dean of the political science faculty at Ubon Ratchathani University, said he was optimistic about the upcoming election.
"There might be a possibility for a postponement, but if at all, it will be a brief one. There is no reason to put if off that long," Titipol told BenarNews by phone. "The election bolsters the image of the ceremony in the eyes of the international community."
King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun, or King Rama X, is the 10th king of the Chakri Dynasty. He ascended to the throne on Dec. 1, 2016, following the death of his father King Bhumibol Adulyadej on Oct. 13, 2016, at the age of 88 after a seven-decade reign.
The coronation ceremony, which is a mix of Buddhist and Brahman rites, will begin on May 4 when King Maha Vajiralongkorn will have an audience with other royals, cabinet members and high-ranking officials, according to the Royal Household Bureau. On May 5, the central coronation rite will take place, followed on May 6 by a celebration for the public and diplomats.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

After their first official meeting in Bangkok on Friday, the Malaysian facilitator of southern Thai peace talks and Thailand's negotiating team said they hoped to end the separatist conflict within two years but granting regional independence was off the table.
Malaysian peace broker Abdul Rahim Noor said he and his Thai counterpart expected to inject new life and give "new momentum" in negotiations with the southern rebels, but he revealed that his efforts to persuade hardcore leaders of the most powerful insurgent group to come to the table had been futile thus far.
Future talks would respect Thailand's territorial integrity, said retired Army Gen. Udomchai Thammasarorat, who was appointed as the chief Thai negotiator by Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha in November.
"There is power decentralization and compliance with international norms, but that must not lead to separation," Udomchai told a post-meeting news conference at a hotel where he and the rest of the Thai delegation met officially with Rahim Noor, who was appointed as the new facilitator by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in August.
The negotiators said their two-hour meeting focused on establishing a framework for advancing the talks. These have made little progress since 2015, when Thailand's military government opened Malaysia-brokered negotiations with MARA Patani, a panel representing several Deep South insurgent groups and factions in the peace process.
Hardcore leaders of the National Revolutionary Front (BRN), the most powerful of the rebel groups, have stayed away from the talks.
"This dialogue will be – there is a good English word – rejuvenated, [with] new vitality, new momentum ... we can find the solution," Rahim Noor told the media.
When BenarNews asked him how long it could take to settle the decades-long conflict in Thailand's predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking southern border region, Rahim Noor replied, "within two years or even earlier than that, provided that you have the correct solution."
BRN: 'A rather difficult group'
Since Udomchai and Rahim Noor took on their new responsibilities in the peace process, Thailand has tried through Rahim Noor to reach out to and persuade hardcore BRN leaders to join the talks.
When asked by a BenarNews reporter to comment on this, Rahim Noor said he was replying "very honestly" about his recent efforts to set up two meetings between BRN and Udomchai.
"We see that our experience tends to show that, I will say for lack of a better term, the hardcore group, if we are really to understand them and try to accommodate them, it is a rather difficult group," Rahim Noor told the reporters.
"I don't mind telling you that, twice, we had arranged a meeting between the leaders of the hardcore group to meet in Malaysia with Gen. Udomchai but, at the 11th hour, they just ran away – [and] cannot be traced," he said. "That shows how difficult it is to handle this violent group."
This issue came up during Friday's discussions with Udomchai, the Malaysian broker said.
"We have told the Thai side just now that, if we are to wait until such [a] time when the hardcore group joins the whole group of rebels, Muslim rebels in the south, it will take [a] very long time, [a] very long time."
BRN video
Meanwhile on Friday, the BRN marked the 15th anniversary of the day in January 2004 when the conflict in the Deep South reignited, by posting a defiant video on Facebook.
A spokesman for BRN said his group was willing to keep fighting.
"Dear people of Malay Patani, if we are still strong, it is not wrong for us to continue until we win. If the peace effort by Siam (Thailand) is true, we can make peace. But if the peace effort is only to trick us, then we will fight," BRN spokesman Abdul Karim Khalib said in the video.
"We, BRN, are willing to let the people of Malay Patani living a happy and victorious life even when our own is under threat. BRN will fight with all our might. Do not be Siam's tool, do not support Siam, Insyallah (with God's grace) we will win! Keep Fighting! Independence!"
The Deep South borders Malaysia and encompasses Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala provinces as well as four districts in Songkhla province. Nearly 7,000 people have been killed in violence in the region since the insurgency flared up again in early 2004 after a long dormant period.
On New Year's Eve, Thai army chief Gen. Apirat Kongsompong visited the Deep South after a week of attacks that included shootings and bombings that killed a 59-year-old woman and injured eight others. The violence continued as two men were shot and killed Thursday in separate incidents in Narathiwat and Yala.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

Thai immigration authorities denied late Sunday that they had detained a Saudi teenager who arrived earlier in the day on a flight from Kuwait and who claimed her life was in peril if she were forced to return home.
Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, 18, was booked to depart on a Kuwait Airways flight bound from Bangkok to Kuwait City late on Monday morning, the chief of immigration police told BenarNews, while late on Sunday, New York-based Human Rights Watch implored Thailand "to immediately halt" its "planned deportation" of al-Qunun.
The 18-year-old told BenarNews that Saudi Arabian embassy officials had pulled her aside, confiscated her passport, and confined her to a hotel room inside Bangkok's main international airport after she disembarked from the flight from Kuwait.
She said she was in transit to Australia while trying to flee from what she described as her abusive Saudi family.
"My family will kill me," the 18-year-old told Benar during a brief interview done by telephone and text messages via WhatsApp. "My father is very angry because I ran away from them. I ran away because they treated me badly.
"I just want to travel to Australia, I have a visa," she said. "They will take me back to Kuwait and then Saudi Arabia tomorrow."
According to Lt. Gen. Surachate Hakparn, the chief of Thailand's immigration bureau, al-Qunun did not have proper travel papers for entry into Thai territory.
"Nobody detained her. Saudi Arabian officials took care of her at the hotel until now. Thai immigration officials also assisted her earlier," Surachate told BenarNews by phone on Sunday evening (local time). "It's a family matter. She just felt upset with her family."
"She escaped her parents and was to enter Thailand but she can't because she doesn't have all documents," Surachate said. "So we escorted her to the transit area and she booked her flight back to Kuwait using her money."
However, the 18-year-old and Phil Robertson, a regional representative for Human Rights Watch, claimed she didn't need a visa for Thailand because she was only passing through Suvarnabhumi Airport on her way to Australia, where, Robertson said, al-Qunun intended to get asylum.

[https://www]

Rahaf Mohammed Al-Qunun (Courtesy Rahaf Mohammed Al-Qunun via Twitter)

'Abusive influence of Saudi authorities abroad'
After being allegedly escorted to a room at the airport's Miracle Transit Hotel – which is not accessible to the general public – the 18-year-old took to social media to tweet about her situation. Robertson, a deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch, obtained a copy of the inside page of her Saudi passport and posted it on Twitter, along with a photo of al-Qunun.
Al-Qunun alleged to BenarNews that Thai officials eventually came by to her hotel room to notify her that she had to return to the Middle East the next day.
Her family had abused her physically and psychologically, Al-Qunun told Agence France-Presse.
"My family is a strict and locked me in a room for six months just for cutting my hair," AFP quoted her as saying.
Robertson, for his part, challenged comments by the immigration police chief.
"Technically, she hasn't entered Thailand yet. But how come Thai authorities let Saudi Arabian officials through the reserve area?" Robertson said.
"She is 18 and she has the right to travel freely," added Robertson, who spent much of Sunday dispatching tweets in support of protecting the Saudi national against any possible harm or negative repercussions if Thailand expelled her back to the Middle East.
Late last year, the kingdom of Saudi Arabia came under intense international scrutiny and criticism after dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was allegedly murdered and his body dismembered by Saudi agents at Riyadh's consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.
In its statement issued late in the day, Human Rights Watch evoked the case of another Saudi woman, Dina Ali Lasloom, who was forcibly returned to the kingdom from the Philippines in April 2017, while she was also trying to flee to Australia.
"Saudi women fleeing their families can face severe violence from relatives, deprivation of liberty, and other serious harm if returned against their will," said Michael Page, the deputy Middle East director for the rights watchdog, as HRW also called for Thailand to grant al-Qunun access to the U.N. refugee agency's local office so she could claim refugee status.
"Once again we are seeing the abusive influence of Saudi authorities abroad as they seek to forcibly return Saudi women fleeing mistreatment and violence by their families," Page went on to say.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

A Saudi teenager who says she is fleeing an abusive family was allowed to enter Thailand Monday to file paperwork with the United Nations refugee agency, after barricading herself in an airport hotel room overnight to prevent forced repatriation and pleading for help on social media.
Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, 18, and UNHCR representatives showed up at a press conference at Suvarnabhumi Airport late Monday as Lt. Gen. Surachate Hakparn, chief of Thailand's immigration bureau, announced that she had been admitted to Thailand.
"She wants to stay in Thailand for a while, seeking UNHCR refugee status before going to a third country," said Surachate. "She will get the status in five days' time, according to UNHCR colleagues."
Surachate, who had earlier called the matter a family issue, told reporters Monday evening that Thailand was prepared to assist her after learning that her life was in peril.
"But when we learned that she may face death going back home, Thailand embraced her, working with the foreign ministry and the U.N. Today, I allowed her to enter Thailand and am ready to hand her over to UNHCR for refugee status processing," he said.
"We don't detain her now and have transferred her to the UNHCR ... she is protected under Thai law. No one can hurt her or can force her to do things against her will," Surachate said,
Al-Qunun was taken to a hotel near the UNHCR office in Bangkok after the press conference, local media reported.
Different accounts
On Sunday, the immigration chief and the young Saudi woman gave different accounts of what happened after she landed in Thailand.
Al-Qunun told BenarNews she arrived at the airport for transit to Australia, where she wants to seek asylum, and she had both a ticket and visa to continue the journey. She said she was pulled aside by Saudi embassy officials who confiscated her passport and confined her to a hotel room.
Surachate said she tried to enter Thailand but was barred from doing so because she lacked proper documents and travel arrangements, so authorities planned to deport her to Kuwait, where her family is reportedly based, on a flight departing at 11:15 a.m. Monday.
Al-Qunun barricaded the door of a room at Miracle Transit Hotel to avoid being sent back, pictures released to the media show.
Late Monday, Surachate said the young woman's father was arriving in Thailand and would ask if she wanted to see him.
"My father just arrived, as I heard, which worried and scared me a lot. And I want to go to another country that I seek asylum in," al-Qunun tweeted after the conference ended.
"But at least I feel safe now under UNHCR protection with the agreement with Thailand's authorities. And I finally got my passport."
On Sunday al-Qunun said she was in fear if returned to her family.
"My family will kill me," the 18-year-old told BenarNews during a brief interview by telephone and WhatsApp messages. "My father is very angry because I ran away from them. I ran away because they treated me badly."
International human rights organizations spoke out on her behalf during the airport standoff, saying she could face violence in the conservative kingdom where women's dress and movements are strictly regulated.
"We're concerned that ... because she has asserted her independence, because she has done this escape, because she has unmasked herself, she's taken off her hijab, she's also said that she wants to renounce Islam, that she could face very, very serious consequences if she's returned to Saudi Arabia," said Phil Robertson, a deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch.
"If she is sent back to Saudi Arabia, to her family, they will have essential impunity to abuse her, to inflict 'honor-related' violence against her, and Saudi Arabia has a very poor track record in investigating and prosecuting these kind of cases," Robertson told Agence France-Presse.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

The European Union on Tuesday cleared Thailand of a potential ban on seafood imports from the Southeast Asian nation, four years after warning Bangkok to tackle illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) practices in its multi-billion dollar fisheries industry, officials announced.
Saying it had lifted a so-called "yellow card" given to Thailand, the EU – the world's biggest importer of fisheries products – acknowledged that the country had "successfully addressed shortcomings" in its seafood industry's "legal and administrative systems."
"Today's decision reverses the first step of a process that could have led to a complete import ban of marine fisheries products into the EU," the European Commission (EC) said in a news release from Brussels. In 2017, Thailand exported 407 million euros (U.S. $465.6 million) in fishery products to the European bloc, according to the EC's directorate-general for trade.
The European bloc slapped Thailand with the warning in April 2015, after media reports had exposed alleged human trafficking and slave-like conditions for Southeast Asian migrants who worked aboard Thai fishing boats.
Chatchai Sarikulya, a Thai deputy prime minister, was in Brussels on Tuesday when Karmenu Vella, the European commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs, and Fisheries announced that the EU had delisted "Thailand from the group of 'warned countries.'"
"Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing damages global fish stocks but it also hurts the people living from the sea, especially those already vulnerable to poverty. Fighting illegal fishing is therefore a priority for the EU," Vella said.
Given Thailand's central role in the international supply chain for fisheries products, the improvements it had made over the past four years could have a "multiplier effect in the global sustainability" of such natural resources, the EC said.
As it cleaned up its seafood industry to avoid a European ban on its seafood, Thailand introduced a new fisheries law and labor law to reduce the number of unlicensed fishing boats in its fleet from over 40,000 to 10,600 vessels, officials said. Among a host of measures, Thai authorities also compelled fishermen to change fishing gear, such as getting rid of illegal nets that could harm the seabed floor, as well as improving working conditions.
"[We] believe that Thailand has laid foundation to fix the IUU issue in all 6 aspects: law, fisheries management, fleet management, monitoring/control/surveillance, traceability and law enforcement," Chatchai said in the Thai press release.
In addition, the European Union said it recognized efforts demonstrated by the Thais to "tackle human trafficking and to improve labor conditions in the fishing sector," although Thailand was not required to do so in implementing measures to be taken off the IUU warning list.
Meanwhile in Bangkok, Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha hailed the lifting of the yellow card.
"Thanks, EU, for the recognition of the government and kudos to all parties such as fishermen, business owners and government agencies to make it happen," Prayuth said through his spokesman.
"Commercial fishermen and small-scale fishermen should see the benefits of it. The situation is better. They could sell more products, given the international confidence."
In coastal southern Pattani province, where many residents rely on fishing for their livelihood, one man said the news elated him.
"I'm glad to hear about the lifting. I feel like I was unchained and hope the government takes it easy on us," Manasae Salae, a local fisherman, told BenarNews.
Mariyam Ahmad in Pattani, Thailand contributed to this report.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

Thailand's long awaited and repeatedly postponed general election under junta rule may be delayed yet again after the interior ministry confirmed a halt to preparations for polls expected on Feb. 24, saying it was still waiting for a voting date to be made official.
In the face of the latest potential delay, groups of pro-democracy protestors took to the streets of Bangkok on Tuesday to demand that the election take place on the last Sunday in February. The demonstration occurred a day after a memo from the ministry instructing registration offices in the provinces to stop poll-related activities was leaked to the media.
"The internal letter relates to the initial poll date, but when the royal decree did not come out yet, therefore the Election Commission asked us to end or delay the preparation," Interior Minister Anupong Paochinda told reporters Tuesday. "There must be a clear poll date first."
In confirming the memo's leak, he was referring to a decree authorizing a poll date that must be signed by Thailand's king and then published in the Royal Gazette before the commission can make the date official.
"It is not a big deal. There will – one hundred percent – be an election. The Election Commission is the one that has the final call on whether it is postponed or delayed," Anupong said.
Last September, the National Assembly passed laws that set early May 2019 as a deadline for the first national polls since a military coup nearly five years ago, with senior junta leaders talking about the last Sunday in February as a tentative voting date.
The Election Commission was expected to announce the date in the first week of the new year, according to a senior official there, but then the royal palace announced on Jan. 1 that the coronation of King Maha Vajiralongkorn would take place May 4-6.
More than a week later, the commission has still not announced a poll-date because the Royal Gazette has not yet published the monarch's signed decree on this.
The Election Commission needs the royal decree to be in effect and is required to announce a date for voting within 150 days of the decree's publication in the gazette, said Wissanu Krea-ngam, deputy prime minister for legal affairs.
"I expect that the poll is pushed off from Feb. 24 but that wouldn't be too long because the junta still needs legitimacy to hold the coronation," Titipol Phakdeewanich, dean of the political science faculty at Ubon Ratchathani University, told BenarNews.
'Wait until it is announced'
Thailand's last general election happened in July 2011, when Yingluck Shinawatra became prime minister of a civilian government.
Army Gen. Prayuth Chan-o-cha, who led a coup that toppled her government in May 2014 and who then took over as prime minister, has since postponed the prospect of a general election at least five times, despite early promises to steer Thailand back on a path toward democracy.
"I would like to see the process completed the soonest. In regards with the royal decree on the election, wait until it is announced in the Royal Gazette," the junta chief told reporters on Tuesday, referring to the polls.
When the dates for the coronation were announced last week and he was asked whether this would impact the election, Prayuth told reporters that his government was giving priority to the king's crowning, "but things can be conducted in conjunction."
The potential latest setback to the prospect of polls, nonetheless, has upset pro-democracy activists.
Since the junta lifted its ban on political gatherings of five or more people and allowed political parties to hold activities late last year, protestors have rallied in Bangkok at least three times to demand that polls be held on Feb. 24.
On Tuesday, some 300 demonstrators led by a group called "People Who Want Elections" gathered near the busy Ratchaprasong intersection in central Bangkok to repeat the demand.
"The junta must clarify about the status of the royal decree. It must not interfere with the Election Commission. The junta and the EC must implement proper elections and open the parliament accordingly," said Siriwith Seritiwit, a student activist.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

Gunmen shot dead four civil defense volunteers who were guarding a school in Thailand's insurgency-stricken Deep South on Thursday, authorities said of the deadliest in a series of attacks to strike the region since the start of the new year.
According to police, the gunmen who carried out the latest attack wore military-like uniforms as they approached the group of armed volunteers. A suspect was taken into custody after the shooting at the Ban Buko School, a public campus in Pattani province, officials said.
During the attack one student was injured from flying shattered particles and later taken to a local hospital, a police officer said.
"The assailants pretended they were coming for a visit and chatted with the guarding officials. But when the officials were careless, the attackers shot at them," Pol. Lt. Capt. Wicha Noopannoi, an investigator with police station in Yarang district, told reporters.
The four volunteers died on the spot, while the gunmen made off with HK-33 rifles that each of the guards was carrying, Wicha said in describing the attack that occurred near noon.
The gunmen were separatist rebels, a security officer who monitored the assailants' movements told BenarNews.
"Today's attack is conducted by nobody else but insurgents in the area. We have intelligence that they planned an attack but we didn't know for sure the target was this place," said the intelligence officer who asked not to be identified by name.
Thursday marked the single bloodiest day of violence in Thailand's southern border region since June 8, 2018, when five people were killed in a flurry of shootings in the predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking Deep South.
Including Thursday's attack, six people were killed and at least another seven injured in attacks carried out across the region since Jan. 1, 2019, authorities said. On Tuesday, also in Yarang district, suspected insurgents killed a man while commandeering his car, which was later used in a bombing that injured four people, including a 12-year-old girl, officials said.
'I must stay strong for the two children'
During the latest incident, a local village headman said he first mistook the sound of gunfire for firecrackers.
"It was rainy. I saw people who were dead already while another two were injured but still alive. Not so long after that, they expired," headman Sakariya Doloh told BenarNews.
"I felt sad. We were very careful. I never thought this would happen," he added.
The wife of one of the slain volunteers said she tried to hold back her tears and not let them fall on her husband's dead body as she cried over him in order "to keep him at peace."
"I never thought he would leave me too soon," the volunteer's widow, Saynu Binmasae, told BenarNews at the scene of the shooting.
"From now on, I must stay strong for the two children."
In all, about 10 gunmen were involved in the attack, and they left nail spikes on the road as they made their escape, said Wicha, the police investigator.
Soon after the suspects fled, another group of police in Pattani set up a checkpoint near the area's famous Krue Se Mosque. After an exchange of gunfire between officers and two of the suspects, one of them was injured in the wrist but got away, while police arrested the second man, officials said.
The man was identified as Makri Esopute, a native of Saba Yoi, a district in nearby Songkhla province rife with insurgent activity, officials said.
The killings of the four volunteers took place against the backdrop of efforts by a new Malaysian facilitator and a revamped Thai negotiating team to inject momentum into Kuala Lumpur-brokered peace talks that began in 2015 with MARA Patani, a panel representing various rebel groups.
However, hardcore elements of the National Revolutionary Front (BRN), the largest and most power of the rebel groups in the south, have stayed away from the MARA talks, which have yielded no breakthroughs in aiming to settle the long-running separatist insurgency.
Last week in Bangkok, Abdul Rahim Noor, the Malaysian peace broker, told reporters that he had twice arranged meetings in Malaysia between hardcore BRN leaders and Udomchai Thammasarorat, the new head of the Thai negotiating team, but the rebels did not show up.
The Deep South borders Malaysia and encompasses Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala provinces as well as four districts in Songkhla province. Nearly 7,000 people have been killed in violence in the region since the insurgency flared up again in early 2004 after a long dormant period.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

A spokesman for the Hun Sen government on Thursday denied reports that fugitive former Thai premier Yingluck Shinawatra had been given a Cambodian passport, but a critic of the Cambodian strongman said it couldn't be ruled out in view of his ties to Yingluck's billionaire brother.
Media in Hong Kong, citing business records, have reported that Yingluck had used a Cambodian passport to register a company in the former British colony, now an autonomous Chinese city.
The AFP news agency said the document lent weight to reports that Yingluck, deposed in a coup in 2014, went through Cambodia when she fled Thailand in August 2017, after a graft conviction for running a rice subsidy scheme that cost Thailand billions of dollars.
Cambodian Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan said that Yingluck's name did not appear on the list of registered passports kept by the country's ministry of interior and that the Hun Sen government was not involved in granting a passport to Yingluck.
"The ministry of interior doesn't recognize the passport as reported in the media," he said. He declined to comment further on the case.
Efforts by Radio Free Asia (RFA), a sister entity of BenarNews, to seek comment from officials at the passport department in Phnom Penh were unsuccessful.
In August 2017, a source close to an aide of Yingluck told BenarNews that she fled Thailand through Cambodia, shortly after she failed to appear in court to hear a verdict in the rice-subsidy scheme that could have sent her to prison for 10 years.
The source said that Yingluck had traveled through Thailand's Trat province, about 320 km (200 miles) south of Bangkok, before crossing into Cambodia to board a plane that took her to another country.
Senior junta officials said Yingluck skipped bail and fled the country via Cambodia, but the government in Phnom Penh has always denied this, AFP reported.
Publicly available corporate filings in Hong Kong show Yingluck used a Cambodian passport to register as director of a company called "PT Corporation Company Limited" on Aug. 24, 2018, the agency said.
Cambodian analyst Lao Mong Hai, however, told RFA on Thursday that it would not be surprising if Yingluck had a Cambodian passport because Hun Sen had close ties to her family including her brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, also a deposed former Thai premier living in exile.
"We shouldn't wonder about it because the family has close relationship with Hun Sen," he said.
Thailand's Foreign Ministry cancelled all four Thai passports known to be held by Yingluck at the end of October 2017, the Bangkok Post reported at the time.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

A Saudi teenager who fled her family and gained refugee status in Thailand was on her way to Canada after receiving asylum there, Thailand's immigration chief said late Friday.
Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, 18, departed Thailand on a Korean Air flight to Canada via Inchon, South Korea, according to police Lt. Gen. Surachate Hakparn, who saw her off at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport. She is expected to arrive in Canada on Saturday morning.
"Today, Ms. Rahaf holds refugee status from the UNHCR, and now the UNHCR coordinated with Canada to accept her and put her on an 11:15 p.m. flight to Toronto," Surachate said. UNHCR is the U.N.'s refugee agency.
"Then, she will be taken care of by the IOM," he said, referring to the International Organization for Migration.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed that his country had granted al-Qunun asylum, in footage broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corp. (ABC).
"The UNHCR has made a request of Canada that we accept Ms. al-Qunun as a refugee, and we have accepted the U.N.'s request that we grant her asylum. That is something we are pleased to do because Canada is a country that understands how important it is to stand up for human rights, for women's rights around the world," Trudeau told reporters.
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi offered his support for the teen.
"Ms. al-Qunun's plight has captured the world's attention over the past few days, providing a glimpse into the precarious situation of millions of refugees worldwide," Grandi said, according to Agence France-Presse.
"Refugee protection today is often under threat and cannot always be assured, but in this instance international refugee law and overriding values of humanity have prevailed."
UNHCR issued a statement praising Thai and Canadian officials.
"The quick actions over the past week of the government of Thailand in providing temporary refuge and facilitating refugee status determination by UNHCR, and of the government of Canada in offering emergency resettlement to Ms. Alqunun and arranging her travel were key to the successful resolution of this case," the agency said.
Six-day saga
Al-Qunun arrived in Bangkok from Kuwait overnight Saturday to Sunday but said she was intercepted by diplomats from her country who confiscated her passport and booked her on a return flight.
Barricaded in a hotel in the international transit area of the airport, the 18-year-old began calling for help via social media, and pleading to meet with UNHCR officials.
"My family will kill me," al-Qunun told BenarNews during a brief interview by telephone and text message. "My father is very angry because I ran away from them. I ran away because they treated me badly."
Amid snowballing media coverage and pressure from human rights activists, Thai officials who initially appeared to be cooperating with their Saudi counterparts relented and allowed her to enter the country in the care of UNHCR, which granted her refugee status, officials said.
She declined to meet with her father and brother who touched down in Thailand on Sunday as the international drama escalated.
"My father just arrived, as I heard, which worried and scared me a lot. And I want to go to another country that I seek asylum in," al-Qunun tweeted that night.
The pair was set to return to Saudi Arabia, Surachate said.
"Ms. Rahaf still refused to meet with her father and brother and they will be returning (to Saudi Arabia) at 2 a.m. local time," he said.
"The story ends today and Ms. Rahaf is going to Canada as she wishes. She chose Canada for personal reasons. She told me that the first thing she wants to do when she arrives in Canada is to learn the language," he said.
"She wants to say thanks to Thai officials and the Thai government and having a smiling face. She is in a good health because she had a health check before leaving."
'With courage and perseverance'
International human rights organizations spoke out on her behalf during the airport standoff and throughout her stay in Thailand, saying she could face violence in the conservative kingdom where women's dress and movements are strictly regulated.
"Rahaf made it with courage and perseverance & with new-found friends around the globe who supported her in a way that really restores one's faith in humanity. This is so much a victory for everyone who cares about respecting and promoting women's rights valuing the independence of youth to forge their own way and demanding governments operate in the light & not darkness," Phil Robertson, a deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch, said in a Twitter post.
"Rahaf temporarily suspended her #Twitter account because she has been receiving some very nasty, very real death threats. Not sure when she will resume & think it depends on what @Twitter @Jack does about tracking & shutting down those accounts making these threats!," Robertson added in another tweet.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

Thailand's new chief negotiator in the Kuala Lumpur-brokered talks with southern rebels said Friday he was "studying" the concept of power decentralization on advice from Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and had already held low-level talks with "all groups" in the peace process.
Promoted to the post late last year, retired army Gen. Udomchai Thammasarorat has been on a public relations tour of sorts. He addressed reporters last week in the Thai capital alongside the new Malaysian facilitator of the talks, and then joined a forum this week with civil society leaders in the Thai Deep South.
On Friday, he held a news conference for 100 reporters, diplomats and activists at a foreign press club in Bangkok. Udomchai said he was considering establishing a special administrative zone and creating de-centralized rule in the Deep South as a solution for the decades-old separatist conflict in Thailand's predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking southern border region.
"A special administrative zone is something that we discussed among ourselves and compared with a policy that the Thai prime minister gave to us to address power decentralization," Udomchai said during the news conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand (FCCT).
"In reality, it is about how do we define a special zone or decentralized rule? There is a definition under the framework of the constitution," Udomchai said.
When asked, Udomchai did not say whether he had succeeded in making contact with insurgent leaders and factions who, up until now, have refused to participate in talks between Thailand's military government and MARA Patani, a panel representing insurgents groups. The talks with MARA began in 2015 but cooled early last year.
"In talks [so far], we talked to all groups on a one-on-one basis because each group may have a different way and thoughts," Udomchai said in response to the question.
He said he was open to talks with all stakeholders.
"We talk in an unofficial manner so that they feel free and have time to clearly communicate for a precise understanding. Then official talks will be held," he added.
But when asked whether this meant that the talks now included the BRN, the negotiator replied, "How do you call the violent dissidents? Generally they are called BRN, but I call it dissidents who use violence."
When new negotiating teams for Thailand and Malaysia were announced in late in 2018, much was made about bringing all parties to the table to give the talks fresh impetus.
But on Jan. 4, Malaysian peace broker Rahim Noor told reporters in Bangkok that hardcore leaders of the National Revolutionary Front (BRN), the largest and most powerful of southern insurgent groups, did not show up at two meetings he had arranged between them and Udomchai in Malaysia.
'We took his advice'
In Friday's news conference, Udomchai said he was inspired to study the idea of decentralization of power because of advice from Mahathir, the 93-year-old leader of Malaysia who returned to power through a general election last May.
"When a well-wisher who is the prime minister of our neighboring country gives advice, no one would refuse. We took his advice and I'm studying it," Udomchai said.
In an interview with Thailand's Nation newspaper last month, Mahathir addressed the people of the Deep South by saying, "there should be an understanding that the southern part of Thailand is a part of Thailand. I don't think many countries are willing to give up any territory."
However, despite efforts to rekindle peace talks, violence has not stopped in the south.
Udomchai gave the press conference a day after gunmen in Pattani, one of the provinces of the Deep South, shot and killed four civil defense volunteers who were guarding a public school. On Friday, a 62-year-old imam of a mosque in Narathiwat, a neighboring province, was killed in a roadside shooting, according to police who had not identified a motive for the attack. The latest attack brought to seven the number of people killed in attacks in the Deep South since the start of 2019.
The Deep South borders Malaysia and encompasses Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala provinces as well as four districts in Songkhla province. Nearly 7,000 people have been killed in violence in the region since the insurgency flared up again in early 2004 after a long dormant period.
Matahari Ismail in Narathiwat, Thailand, contributed to this report.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

A Thai court released a Belarusian woman and seven co-defendants on Tuesday but ordered them all deported after convicting them on charges of soliciting prostitution and conspiracy to form a criminal syndicate, their lawyer and Thailand's immigration chief told BenarNews.
Anastasia Vashukevich, a model, escort and self-described sex coach who is also known as Nastya Rybka, and her co-defendants were convicted but handed suspended sentences after entering guilty pleas during the start of their trial at the Pataya courthouse, said an attorney representing the eight. Thailand's immigration chief said they would be deported to Russia next week.
"All of them pleaded guilty and the court suspended the remaining prison term and [ordered] that they were free from court custody," the lawyer, who asked not to be named, told BenarNews in a phone interview late Tuesday.
"But after the court finished reading the verdict, immigration police officials detained all defendants and brought them to Bangkok for further deportation," the lawyer said.
Vashukevich's case made international headlines following her arrest in Pattaya in February 2018 because she claimed to have damning evidence to support allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
She said she had an affair with a Russian billionaire who had business dealings with Paul Manafort, U.S. President Donald Trump's former campaign manager who was convicted last year on criminal charges including conspiracy to defraud the United States.
No proof to back the Belarusian's claims has ever come out or been publicized.
Vashukevich was arrested along with nine other foreigners at a luxury hotel in Pattaya, a seaside town south of Bangkok that is popular with tourists, while allegedly taking part in a sex-training course at a local hotel.
The 10 initially were charged with working without a permit, but two were later expelled from Thailand, while the remaining eight were charged with soliciting prostitution and conspiracy to form a syndicate.
Vashukevich's partner, Russian national Aleksandr Kirillov (also known as Alex Lesley), allegedly led the sex-training seminar. The six others who pleaded guilty on Tuesday comprised Russians and Belarusians, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, a sister entity of BenarNews.
The court sentenced each of the co-defendants to three years in prison but halved their terms because they all pleaded guilty, the lawyer said, adding that they were each fined 150,000 baht (U.S. $4,702).
Lt. Gen. Surachate Hakparn, the Thai immigration chief, said his office was preparing to deport them to Russia.
"We've received them and, tomorrow, I will contact the Russian ambassador in Thailand to arrange a date to bring them there and buy tickets," he told BenarNews by phone.
He said he expected the eight to be deported by the end of next week. They will all be blacklisted and barred from returning to Thailand.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

At least two Buddhists monks were shot dead and two others injured in a rare attack by suspected insurgents on a monastery in Thailand's troubled Deep South on Friday night, authorities said, ending a particularly violent day in the region.
Elsewhere in the southern border area, seven members of the Thai security forces were injured in a pair of bombings and a suspected Muslim rebel was killed in a shootout with authorities, officials said.
The attack that targeted the monks took place in Su-ngai Padee, a district of Narathiwat province, and was carried out by gunmen to avenge the killing of the insurgent earlier on Friday, a police official told reporters.
"Attackers fired shots into Ratananupab Temple in Kokko Village," said Police Lt. Tanakarn Wiparat, an investigator at the district's police station.
"I believe the attackers were exacting revenge for the death of their fellow insurgent this morning."
Thailand is a majority Buddhist country but the Deep South, where a separatist insurgency has gone on for decades, is predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking.
Bloodshed has marked the start of the new year, with violence occurring regularly in spite of efforts by the military government to inject new life into Malaysia-brokered peace talks with southern rebel groups.
Tanakarn said the four monks were shot together and that all of them had died of their injuries, including three at the scene and one at an area hospital. No other people were reported injured in that attack.
However, an official who heads a village cluster where the attack occurred and a medical worker at the hospital told BenarNews that two of the monks had succumbed to their gunshot wounds, but the other two were being treated there for their injuries. Tanakarn could not be reached again late on Friday to cross-check this information.
"Two monks died on the spot. Two others survived. One of them was shot in his shoulder and a foot, another shot in the thigh. They are in safe condition," a nurse at the hospital in Su-ngai Kolok, another district in Narathiwat, said by phone early Saturday morning (local time).
The shooting at the monastery took place hours after security officials in Narathiwat's Chanae district shot and killed Ali Mali, a man wanted for insurgent attacks in another part of Narathiwat, during a raid on a suspected insurgent hideout, officials said.
Within an hour of his killing on Friday morning, two bombs went off in other districts of the Deep South, officials said.
The clash was followed by two bomb attacks within a span of one hour, said officials. In To Deng, a village in Su-ngai Padee, insurgents set off a roadside bomb near railway tracks that lightly injured five soldiers, authorities said.
And, in another blast in Nong Chik, a district of neighboring Pattani province, two policemen were gravely wounded. The pair was taken to a local hospital, where each officer had a leg or part of their limb amputated, officials said.
In the aftermath of the Friday morning bombings and the killing of Ali Mali, Lt. Gen. Pornsak Poolsawat, the Thai army's regional commander in the heavily militarized Deep South, warned security forces to take stay alert and safeguard soft targets from possible retaliatory strikes by insurgents.
"All units must be on full alert for 24 hours. I believe the opponents will retaliate because they lost a member," Pornsak said. "All must get their arms ready to protect soft targets such as teachers and monks."
Friday's violence brought to at least nine the number of people killed in attacks and shootings in the Deep South since Jan. 1. At least another 15 people have been injured so far in 2019 from violence in the region, according to figures extrapolated by BenarNews from police and military reports.
The Deep South borders Malaysia and encompasses Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala provinces as well as four districts in Songkhla province. Nearly 7,000 people have been killed in the region since the insurgency flared up again in early 2004 after a long lull in violence.
Matahari Ismail in Narathiwat, Thailand, contributed to this report.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

Rights groups welcomed the Thai government's announcement this week that it was moving to reduce the confinement of children of refugees and foreign migrants at detention centers, but they also expressed concern about families being potentially separated.
The government announced Monday that the national police and other state agencies that handle refugees and migrants had signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at stopping the incarceration of children at immigrant detention centers nationwide.
Gen. Prawit Wongsuwan, the deputy prime minister for security affairs, led the signing ceremony for the MoU. It will take effect within 30 days and calls for migrant or refugee children under 18 years old to be detained only as a last resort – and for the shortest possible time – Thai officials said.
After the signing of the MoU, FortifyRights, Human Rights Watch and five other rights advocacy groups issued a joint statement applauding Thailand's move as a step in the right direction, but said more needed to be done.
"Thailand took a positive step forward today to protect the rights of refugees and children, but concerning gaps remain," said Amy Smith, the executive director of FortifyRights. "The MoU doesn't address the separation of families, and detained refugee mothers are still required to pay exorbitant bail fees simply to reunite with their children, while fathers remain in detention."
Cash bail for a mother's release is as high as 50,000 baht (U.S. $1,500), according to the joint statement.
"Therefore the mothers are kept at the detention center, while children are in children's homes under the handling of the Ministry of Social Development and NGOs as a case manager," Puttanee Kangkun, a Thai human rights specialist for Fortify Rights, told BenarNews by phone on Tuesday.
She said the immigration bureau recently released 12 mothers from detention but there are about another 20 mothers incarcerated in facilities and waiting to post bail to reunite with their children, who were being cared for at government-run shelters.
There are less than 6,000 refugees and asylum seekers in urban areas in Thailand, according to the U.N.'s refugee agency, UNHCR. Thailand is not a signatory to the 1951 U.N. Refugee Convention.
The U.N. agency also praised Thailand's move, saying it reflected the government's "commitment and progress to end the detention of refugee and asylum seeker children.
The MoU provides "a framework for the release of all children detained in Immigration Detention Centers in Thailand," UNHCR said in a statement.
However, "as an immediate next step," it also urged Thailand to release all detained mothers who are refugees and asylum seekers as well as allow all separated families to be reunited.
Responding to concerns raised by the rights advocates, Lt. Gen. Surachate Hakparn, the Thai immigration chief, said his office could release mothers without bail.
"Regarding the bail fee, the immigration bureau could decide to release them temporarily without a bail fee at all. We will consider the human rights as a priority," Surachate told BenarNews on Tuesday.
"Therefore, mothers can stay with their children who are under care at the Social Development Ministry's shelter. The mothers can stay there in the shelter, or in a residence provided by the UNHCR," Surachate said.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

Following nearly five years of military rule and multiple delays, Thai voters will go to the polls on March 24 to choose a new government after Wednesday's Royal Gazette publication of a king-endorsed decree setting a date for the election.
The official date is a month later than a tentative plan that called for a general election on Feb. 24. In September 2018, the National Assembly passed laws setting an early May deadline for the long-awaited vote.
Since then, the royal palace announced that the coronation of King Maha Vajiralongkorn would occur from May 4 to May 6. The announcement prompted authorities to set the election date so it would not clash with the royal ceremony, according to a deputy prime minister for legal affairs.
"The majority of commissioners agreed that the general election would be held on March 24," Election Commission Chairman Ittiporn Boonprakong told reporters in Bangkok. "We were considering which date would be most suitable."
Previously, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha had postponed promises of holding elections at least six times since he led a military coup that seized power from the civilian-led government of Yingluck Shinawatra in May 2014.
"People who want to vote now get their wish," Prayuth told reporters while refusing to speak of his political future.
The prime minister's office also issued an online statement regarding the election.
"In the past, the government only coordinated with the Election Commission on the schedules of the events related to the coronation, before and after, in order to avoid risk overlapping," the statement said. "The past conflict that led to national crisis should not come back to haunt us again. We urge all brother and sister citizens to go to the polls."
Reactions
Late last year, the junta lifted its ban against political gatherings of five or more people and allowed political parties to hold activities. Since then, protesters have rallied in Bangkok at least three times to demand that the election be held on Feb. 24.
Following Wednesday's announcement, a leader of "People Who Want Elections" announced the group was done protesting.
"Let's inform you that we won't rally on Jan. 26. Let's us all be ready to vote after waiting for more than five years for a chance to choose the nation's future," student activist Siriwith Seritiwit said on his Facebook.
A member of the Future Forward Party (FFP) also expressed hope.
"This election is an indicator of the nation's future, to regress or progress, to stay with fear or hope, to stay with old politics or a new one. The future is with the tip of your pen," FFP leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit said in a Facebook post.
Despite the announcement, a political analyst said the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) – the real name of the junta – needed to establish an interim government ahead of the vote to ensure fairness.
"We can believe that we could have an election only if the NCPO stops governing, otherwise it may postpone the poll again for security reasons," said Titipol Phakdeewanich, dean of political science at Ubon Ratchathani University. "There is Section 44 of the Constitution, which Gen. Prayuth can use to postpone the election. The past postponements were without a reason."
The ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights, meanwhile, called on the junta to withdraw restrictions on freedom of expression to pave the way for a genuinely free and open election campaign. Thailand is one of 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
"Today's announcement of an election date in Thailand is both welcome and long overdue. But the climate in the country is still not conducive for a free and fair election – the junta must now remove all remaining draconian limits on freedom of expression," said Charles Santiago, chairman of ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights and a member of parliament in Malaysia.
"Unless political parties are allowed to campaign without fear of retaliation, voters will not be able exercise their democratic right and make an informed choice at the ballot box."


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

Human Rights Watch urged Laotian authorities Wednesday to probe the disappearances of three activists in exile, after police in Thailand confirmed that two bodies found along the Mekong River belonged to associates of a well-known Thai anti-monarchist, Surachai Danwattananusorn.
The bodies of the two anti-government activists were found on Dec. 27 and 29 at different locations along the river which divides the two nations, the police commander in Thailand's northeastern Nakhon Phanom province told BenarNews. He said DNA tests had identified them as Chatcharn Buppawan, 56, and Kraidej Luelert, 46, both associates of Surachai, a former Thai communist leader.
"The Lao government seems intent on sweeping the abduction and gruesome murder of Thai activists under the rug," Brad Adams, Asia director at New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW), said in a statement. "Lao authorities need to credibly investigate and prosecute this heinous case, which has raised alarms for Thai activists in exile in Laos."
Meanwhile, the wife of Surachai, 78, told BenarNews she believed her husband was also killed but his corpse was destroyed. She cited local media reports that a third corpse resembling her husband was discovered on Dec. 28.
"I thought the body found in Tha Champa village cluster (in Tha Uthane district) is my husband because the two bodies were already identified as his followers," the wife, Pranee Danwattananusorn, said in a phone interview.
"Reports say three bodies were found and one of them had a crooked leg joint," she said, adding that her husband's legs were uneven because of an accident. "The third corpse may have been destroyed."
She said she was desperate to hear news about her husband.
"He has been unusually quiet for 41 days, hope is running out," she told Benar. "There have been no articles, no news and no voices from him – his friends in the U.S. and France have not heard from him either."
Surachai, a leader of the Communist Party of Thailand during the 1980s, became active against the military's interference in politics. He fled to Laos in 2014, when army Gen. Prayuth Chan-o-cha led a coup that toppled the government of Yingluck Shinawatra, Surachai's wife said.
The former communist leader was accompanied to Laos then by two followers, Chatcharn Buppawan (alias Comrade Phu Chana) and Kraidej Luelert (alias Comrade Kasalong), she said.
Pranee said she had traveled to Laos after Surachai fled but was not able to find her husband.

[https://www]

Former Thai communist leader Surachai Danwattananusorn gestures during an interview at his home in Bangkok, Aug. 25, 2010. (Reuters)

 
In Nakhon Phanom, the provincial police chief said tests on DNA samples taken from the two bodies had confirmed a familial match between Chatcharn Buppawan, Kraidej Luelert and their fathers.
"A DNA test result matched the father and Chatcharn Buppawan, who was found in That Panom district. Another result matched the father and Kraidej Luelert, who was found in Maung district," police Maj. Gen. Thanachart Rodklongton told BenarNews on Wednesday.
Krisada Boonramee, a village headman in the province's Tha Uthane district, said only two bodies had been recovered. He explained that the body seen on Dec. 28 was Kraidej's, which was recovered a day later after it drifted from the river bank.
Meanwhile, a senior army officer said Thai officials had no knowledge about the men.
"They largely maneuvered in Laos as far as we knew from news reports. We never sent officers to follow them there in Laos because it is not our jurisdiction," Lt. Gen. Tharakorn Thummawintorn, the commander of the northeastern region army, told reporters on Wednesday.
"Whether Surachai is still alive or not, I cannot tell. If they were in Thailand, I could certainly provide them with safety," Tharakorn said.
Bodies disemboweled, filled with concrete
In its website posting calling for the investigation, Human Rights Watch said Thai police had reported that "the bodies' hands and feet were bound and their faces smashed beyond recognition. They also both had been disemboweled and stuffed with concrete."
The Lao government has not conducted serious investigations into previous disappearances of Thai anti-monarchists living in Vientiane, including Itthipol Sukpaen, missing since June 2016, and Wuthipong Kachathamakul, missing since July 2017, the global rights watchdog group said.
Rights groups allege that Laos and Thailand have poor records in investigating disappearances.
Laos failed to investigate the disappearance of Sombath Somphone, a progressive rural development activist who was seen on closed-circuit TV being abducted from a street in Laos' capital Vientiane in December 2012.
Thailand acquitted alleged abductors of Karen land rights activist Porlajee Rakchongcharoen (alias Billy), who was last seen on April 17, 2014, near Kaeng Krachan National Park in Petch Buri province.
In 2015, a Thai supreme court acquitted police officers who were charged with abducting Somchai Neelapaijit, a lawyer who represented Deep South insurgents, from a Bangkok street in 2004.
According to an article published Wednesday in the Bangkok Post that focused on the disappearances of Surachai and other Thai dissidents, authorities in junta-ruled Thailand "deny any involvement in any of the disappearances, and note they have tried legal channels to have the suspects extradited."


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

Three policemen and three civilians were injured Friday in roadside bombing in Yala province, authorities said, a week after suspected insurgents killed two Buddhist monks and wounded two other clerics at a temple in Thailand's mainly Muslim Deep South.
Suspected insurgents planted a bomb at a lamppost and set it off as a police patrol passed by, Lt. Capt. Pongsak Khaonual of the Krong Pinang district police station, told reporters.
The attack was the latest in a spate of violent incidents to grip Thailand's troubled southern border region since Jan. 1, but the first to take place since the monks were gunned down at their monastery in neighboring Narathiwat province seven days earlier.
"From an investigation, there were six policemen on two motorcycles and a pickup truck patrolling the street for security of teachers and students at Ban Talo Sumae School. A bomb was remotely detonated when they reached the scene," Pongsak told reporters. "It was an improvised explosive device, weighing about 10 kg (22 pounds), hidden at a lamppost."
He said the three police, two adult civilians and a girl were slightly injured and rushed to Krong Pinang hospital.
Police and the military compiled footage from security cameras to try to identify the assailants, Yala Police Bureau Commander Maj. Gen. Krisada Kaewchandee said.
2019 violence
Since the new year began, at least 16 have been killed and 20 injured in the region, according to BenarNews figures from police and military reports.
The Deep South borders Malaysia and encompasses Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala provinces as well as four districts in Songkhla province. Nearly 7,000 people have been killed in the region since the insurgency flared up in early 2004.
Efforts by the government and MARA Patani, an umbrella group representing insurgent groups in the region, have held unsuccessful peace talks in the region since 2015. Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), the largest and most powerful militant group in the Deep South, has not participated.
The Jan. 18 attack on Ratananupab Temple in Narathiwat province, which resulted in the deaths of the abbot and his deputy, created tension between the region's Buddhist and Muslim communities.
On Monday, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha issued a statement saying insurgents carried off the attack to get authorities to use brute force to suppress them and draw international attention.
Two days later, a man who identified himself only as Dr. Fakis and who said he represented BRN, refuted Prayuth's statement.
"In reality I don't know who did the attack, but BRN certainly didn't. This is the trick of the colonist to create rift among Malays and tell the international community that the BRN is a terror group," Fakis said.
Despite that denial, New York-based Human Rights Watch and a Deep South expert, blamed militants for the attack.
"Separatist insurgents in Thailand's southern border provinces killed two Buddhist monks in an unlawful assault on a temple. The deliberate attack on civilians and a place of worship is a war crime," HRW said in a statement on Jan 19.
Srisompob Jitpiromsri, director of Deep South Watch, a local think-tank, agreed with the HRW's condemnation, saying BRN reacted violently to respond to pressure from Thai and Malaysian officials. The Malaysian government has served as a broker in peace talks between the Thai government and rebels in the Deep South, and last year appointed Abdul Rahim Noor as its new faciliator for the negotiations.
"The facilitator played a role in pushing BRN to join the talks and this may cause BRN to resort to violence," Srisompob told BenarNews. "The BRN has operative cells, combatants and is adaptive to new tactics.
"What worrisome is that the BRN aimed at soft targets because it makes an impact although the attack is prone to condemnation. It's not surprising to hear reports that the BRN refused its role in the attacks."


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

Thailand's prime minister on Tuesday said he could not interfere with legal procedures for determining whether a Bahraini footballer with Australian refugee status should be sent back to his home country, despite a chorus of international calls demanding his release.
The legal process would go on although world football confederation FIFA, Australian government officials and others have pleaded to Thai authorities to free Hakeem AlAraibi and allow him to return to Australia, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha said.
"In regard to FIFA, I would like to say that we must respect our law. The issue has entered the judicial procedure and we cannot interfere in the court matter," Prayuth said.
"Bahrain, Australia and FIFA – we are a good friend to them. I understand their concerns," he told reporters during a weekly press briefing after a cabinet meeting at Government House in Bangkok.
Last week, Thailand received an official extradition request for Hakeem AlAraibi from Bahrain's government, a Thai foreign ministry spokeswoman confirmed.
AlAraibi's lawyer, Natthasiri Bergman, said the Thai attorney general must file the extradition request with the court by Feb. 8, adding that her client had a right to appeal.
Natthasiri, who visited AlAraibi on Tuesday, said he insisted that he did not deserve to be sent back to Bahrain. He also expressed his appreciation for the support he was getting from so many people, organizations and nations.
"He seemed very depressed and said he tried to be strong. But it's getting harder because he has been in jail in Thailand while his wife is outside alone by herself," Natthasiri told BenarNews in a phone interview.
AlAraibi holds refugee status in Australia, where he plays football for a Melbourne club. He was detained in November when he and his wife arrived at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport to vacation in Thailand. His wife has returned to Australia without him.
When they took him into custody, Thai authorities said they based his arrest on an Interpol "Red Notice" put out by Bahrain, which had sentenced him in absentia for vandalism.
In 2014, Bahrain sentenced AlAraibi to 10 years after he was convicted of vandalizing a police station. The footballer, who said authorities tortured him in custody in 2012, denied the charge and claimed he was playing a match that was televised live when the alleged crime occurred.
Bahrain has no extradition treaty with Thailand, but extradition could be done on a reciprocal basis or through a special agreement, with Bangkok rendering a decision based on a court verdict.
International support
Meanwhile, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he wrote to Prayuth several days ago, emphasizing that AlAraibi's plight was important to him personally as well as the people and government of his country, the Sydney Morning Herald reported Tuesday.
"The Australian government is calling on the Thai government not to extradite Mr. AlAraibi to Bahrain and instead release him home to Australia to be with his friends and family," a spokesperson for the Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs said Tuesday, according to the newspaper.
"The Australian government is making extensive efforts to seek Mr. AlAraibi's safe return to Australia, and will continue to advocate for this," the spokesperson said.
FIFA, the international sports organization, is pushing for the footballer's freedom, as well.
"We strongly urge the authorities in Thailand and Bahrain to do the right thing and ensure Mr. AlAraibi can go back safely to Australia as a matter of urgency," FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura said Tuesday in a statement posted on its website.
Days earlier, Samoura sent a letter to Prayuth requesting a meeting between FIFA and Thai government officials to discuss AlAraibi's case.
"When according refugee status to Mr. AlAraibi, the Australian authorities conclude that Mr. AlAraibi is at serious risk of mistreatment in his home country," Samoura wrote in the Jan. 23 letter.
"As stated publicly on several occasions, FIFA is therefore respectfully urging the authorities of the Kingdom of Thailand to take the necessary steps to ensure that Mr. AlAraibi is allowed to return safely to Australia at the earliest possible moment, in accordance with the relevant international standards."
Elsewhere, Human Rights Watch announced that it had established a social media campaign calling on Facebook, Twitter and email users to adopt the #SaveHakeem to encourage concerned athletes and others around the world to contact Prayuth on behalf of AlAraibi.
Phil Robertson, HRW's deputy Asia director, compared AlAraibi to Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun. The 18-year-old, who arrived in Thailand earlier this month after fleeing her family in Saudi Arabia, was granted refugee status and allowed to travel to Canada where she received asylum.
In a Facebook post, Robertson said AlAraibi's case was stronger than al-Qunun's because he already was established as a refugee.
"It is not easy to get refugee status in Australia. He went through the entire process, an interview, a background check. For Thailand to simply disregard that shows contempt for human rights standards," Robertson said in the post.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

Facebook says it will block foreign-sourced electoral ads in Thailand in the run-up to national polls on March 24, but the move is "unrelated" to a request from the Thai junta, according to a spokesperson for the social media giant.
The California-based tech company, which claims to have 52 million users in Thailand, undertook the move a week after promising to take tougher steps against "fake news" ahead of key elections in the Asia-Pacific region.
"As part of our commitment to safeguard the integrity of elections, we will be temporarily expanding enforcement to not allow foreign electoral ads in Thailand in the lead up to the elections," Facebook said in a statement posted on its Newsroom page and dated Wednesday.
The restriction is expected to take effect in mid-February and will apply to electoral ads if they are being run by advertisers based outside Thailand, the statement said. It explained that both "automated and human review" would be used to identify ads that would be blocked.
Facebook's move came under fire from political observers, because it came less than a week after Thailand's election commission released strict guidelines on political campaigning, which targeted social media.
"Learning from every election over the last two years, we have increased our capabilities to take down fake accounts, reduce false news, disrupt bad actors, support an informed and engaged electorate, and increase ads transparency," said Katie Harbath, Facebook's global politics director whose name appeared atop the statement.
Thailand is set to exercise its first election since the military seized power in a bloodless coup nearly five years ago, in May 2014. Apart from Thailand, national elections will take place this year in Indonesia and India, as well as legislative elections in the Philippines.

In its guidelines released last week, the Thai election commission said it would ban social-media posts that contained anything other than candidates' names, pictures and biographies, and the party name, logo, policies and slogans.
Political observers said the commission's rules were apparently aimed at progressive Thai parties that rely heavily on social media.
The March vote, they said, would be heavily influenced by young voters who are social-media savvy, since more than 25 percent of the nation's voters are about 18 to 35 years old.
"Thailand's military regime has a minuscule social media presence compared to the democratic opposition and clearly recognizes the upcoming election will be largely won or lost online," Shawn Crispin, the Bangkok-based representative of the Committee to Protect Journalists, told the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
Crispin said the young, first-time voters in Thailand would be expected to take their cues from social-media influencers.
"Facebook's ban on electoral ads will thus likely help the junta's proxy party and hurt the more social media-savvy opposition," Crispin said.
A Facebook spokesperson, who asked not to be identified, told BenarNews that the company's action was "consistent with our approach to elections around the world."
"It is unrelated to a government request," the spokesperson said in an email, underscoring that the online platform did not take the action in response to a request from the Thai junta.
It is not the first time that Facebook has rolled out election policies. The social networking platform recently announced tougher rules on political advertising in India, which is expected to go to the polls in April and May.
Social media: 'The main platform'
The junta's latest social-media campaigning restrictions were seen by observers as an apparent extension of an array of recent computer-crimes law aimed at gagging dissent in the country. Thailand already has Lese-Majeste, a strict anti-royal defamation law that forbids insults to members of the Thai monarchy.
"When speaking of the youth, this definitely affects their political engagement and awareness," Future Forward party spokeswoman Pannika Wanich told The Guardian newspaper, referring to the restrictions.
"Without a doubt social media has been the main platform for communication and access of information during this period," she said.
Facebook said it would roll out a "Tips to Spot False News"advertorial in Thailand, in partnership with local organizations, such as the Sure And Share Center of the Thai News Agency and Chulalongkorn University.
"We are also committed to supporting Thailand's news industry, especially during the elections period," it said.
Despite concerns over its handling of its users' privacy, Facebook's latest earnings report showed that it had increased its user base in Europe and North America.
From October to December last year, Facebook said, the company added 4 million daily users in Europe, for a total of 282 million, as it also registered 1 million in the United States and Canada, bringing its user base in those two countries to 182 million.
Updated to add Facebook comments emailed to BenarNews.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

A Thai court has sentenced three suspected rebels to life in prison after finding them guilty of involvement in a roadside explosion that killed four soldiers in Thailand's insurgency-hit Deep South in September 2017, a military spokesman said Friday.
The court in Pattani province also ordered two alleged insurgents to serve 14 years in prison, as it acquitted the sixth defendant, the official said. A seventh man was still on trial for the same attack, he said.
The seven defendants – tagged by military investigators as members of an insurgent movement – were charged with sabotage, conspiring to form criminal syndicate, murder and attempted murder and possession of illegal weapons, Col. Thanawee Suwanarat, spokesman for the Army's Internal Security Operations Command Region 4, told reporters.
"The Pattani Court originally handed death sentences to Mayusof Mayadeng, Ameen Hoya and Mahamasoree samae, but commuted their sentences to life imprisonment because they pleaded guilty to the police level," Thanawee said.
The sentencings, which did not receive media coverage, took place on Jan. 17, defense lawyer Anukul Awaeputeh and relatives of the defendants told BenarNews.
On Sept. 22, 2017, suspected insurgents detonated an 80-kilogram (176-lb) improvised explosive device on a highway in Sai Buri, a district in Pattani, killing four soldiers and wounding six others who were on board a pickup truck, officials said.
Five of the defendants were arrested as suspects three days after the bombing, police said.
Maj. Gen. Jatuporn Kalampasut, deputy commander of the army's southern region, said at the time that investigators believed that the blast was carried out by the tactical unit of Barisan Revolusi Nasional or BRN, Thailand's most-powerful insurgent group, which has stayed away from peace talks with Bangkok.
Rights activists have accused the military in insurgency-hit areas of the Deep South of using torture and other heavy-handed techniques to get confession from suspected insurgents. Military officials deny those allegations.
A relative of one of the defendants said he respects the verdict.
"My relative knows of what he did, but I can't say anything else," said the relative who requested anonymity.
Anukul Awaeputeh, a member of the Muslim Attorney Council, who represents the defendants said, he was preparing documents and would file an appeal.
"We try our best to fight the case for the clients," Anukul told BenarNews.
Since January, at least 16 people have been killed and 20 injured in the Deep South region, according to figures gathered by BenarNews from police and military reports.
The Deep South borders Malaysia and encompasses Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala provinces as well as four districts in Songkhla province. Nearly 7,000 people have been killed in the region since the insurgency flared up in early 2004.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

.

Nontarat Phaicharoen/BenarNews

A Bahraini football player who has been in Thai custody for more than two months despite having Australian refugee status appeared at a Bangkok courtroom Monday to reject a request from his home country that he be extradited over a criminal conviction there.
Supporters and Australian diplomats greeted Hakeem AlAraibi, 25, as he arrived at the court in a brown prison uniform and ankle chains. The court agreed to his attorneys' request for time to file a formal objection to the extradition, setting an April date for a decision.
"The attorney general asked for (his) extradition to Bahrain, citing the Bahraini attorney general's arrest warrant and a court's sentence to 10 years in jail based on the incident on Nov. 3, 2012," said a judge whose name was not released. "The Thai attorney general finds Bahrain and Thailand share a similar codes ... therefore it seeks the court's decision to extradite him to Bahrain."
AlAraibi told the court he was innocent of the Bahrain charges, which accused him of vandalizing a local police station.
"I reject the accusation. ... There was a rally at 18:00 hours (6 p.m.) that day, while I competing in a match that finished at 19:15 hours (7:15 p.m.)," AlAraibi told the court through a translator.  "If I go back to Bahrain, I will be severely punished so I'm very scared."
The footballer said Bahraini authorities tortured him while he was in custody in 2012. Two years later, he fled Bahrain and was sentenced in absentia to 10 years following his conviction.
Australia granted him asylum in 2017.
AlAraibi's lawyer told the court that the defense team needed more time to prepare.
"The accused needs at least 60 days to prepare for document objecting the extradition request because it needs time for information gathering and paperwork involving different languages," lawyer Natthasiri Bergman said, adding she would seek bail for her client.
The court allowed until April 5 for the AlAraibi to submit the formal objection and announced it would examine the objection on April 22.
AlAraibi, who plays for a Melbourne football club, was arrested at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport on Nov. 27, 2018, as he and his wife arrived for a vacation in Thailand.
The Thai immigration bureau chief said officials had acted on an Interpol "Red Notice" to arrest AlAraibi at the request of Bahrain. The Interpol later withdrew the notice, according to media reports.
International support
AlAraibi has remained in Thai custody as officials waited for Bahrain to process the extradition request, which arrived earlier this month amid international criticism. The Thai attorney general brought the request to the court's attention last week.
World football confederation FIFA, Australian government officials and others have pleaded to Thai authorities to free AlAraibi and allow him to return to Australia.  Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha last week maintained the court would decide the footballer's fate.
An Australian embassy spokesman who attended Monday's court hearing called for AlAraibi's release.
"I reiterate once again that the Government of Australia would like Hakeem AlAraibi to be returned to Australia as soon as possible. He is a refugee and permanent resident of Australia," spokesman Mark Warnock said. "Hakeem is a loved football player for Pascoe Vale FC and has football fans across the country.
"We hope that Hakeem will be able to go back to be with his family and his wife in the coming days."
On Sunday, Thai Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai told reporters it was too soon to conclude that Thailand would send AlAraibi back to Bahrain.
"Thailand won't benefit from holding Hakeem. We accidentally fell into this trouble. We just handle it as an independent state that has international obligations and righteousness to follow," the minister told local media.
"In the meantime, I wish Australia and Bahrain, both good friends of Thailand, would discuss this to find a common resolution."



* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

A dissident couple who fled China four years ago over fears of alleged political reprisals will be resettled in Canada from Thailand in the coming months, a lawyer said Tuesday.
Last year, Thai authorities arrested the couple and charged them with immigration violations, although U.N. agency UNHCR gave them refugee status the previous year. Wu Yuhua and her husband, Yang Chong, arrived in the Southeast Asian country in February 2015, claiming Chinese police were targeting them because they had joined press freedom protests in southern Guangzhou city in 2013.
UNHCR recently informed Wu Yuhua that she and her husband were cleared for Canadian resettlement, attorney Warissara Rungthong told BenarNews.
"It is apparent that they may be able to fly to Canada soon, expectedly in March," said Warissara, a lawyer with the People Serving People foundation. "There are sponsors in Canada who helped them out."
After receiving their refugee status in 2017, the couple started looking for resettlement in a third country, their lawyer said.
"I feel very happy when I heard that we could move to Canada," Yang Chong said in a text message to BenarNews. "Lately, I'm in a good health but my wife is having some stress."
Thai authorities arrested the couple in August 2018, along with another Chinese national, outside the New Zealand Embassy in Bangkok, while they were applying for asylum.
They were locked up in an immigration detention center in Bangkok. In December, a court acquitted Wu of charges that she entered the Buddhist-majority country without proper documents.
Meanwhile, Yang was tried and found guilty in November of staying in Thailand after his visa had expired. He was sentenced to six months and a fine of 10,000 baht (U.S. $303). But he was allowed to walk free on a one-year probation because he had no criminal record, court officials said.
Thailand has a record of sending refugees from China back home.
In July 2018, authorities in southwestern China's Chongqing city sent rights activist Dong Guangping and political cartoonist Jiang Yefei to prison after they were repatriated from Thailand, where they were awaiting resettlement as political refugees.
Amnesty International said Dong was just five days away from freedom and was set to leave Thailand to start a new life with his wife and daughter in Canada when Thai authorities forcibly returned him to China in November 2015. He has since been detained without trial, Amnesty said in a statement in April last year.
Jiang, who was also granted refugee status by the UNHCR in Bangkok, was preparing to move to Canada, too, at the time of his arrest.
A court in Chongqing tried him in secret after he was sent back from Thailand in 2015, sentencing him to six and a half years in jail for "inciting subversion of state power," and "illegally crossing a national border," according to the Hong Kong Free Press.
"Thailand is failing to protect people at risk of serious human rights violations once returned to the countries they left," Amnesty said.
In the last four years, the Thai government has forcibly returned more than 100 political refugees to China, Cambodia and Bahrain, according to estimates from the London-based rights watchdog.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

A blogger from Vietnam is missing after he fled to Thailand to seek political asylum with a UN refugee agency, fueling fears that he has been abducted by Vietnamese security agents.
There has been no word since Jan. 26 from Truong Duy Nhat, a weekly contributor to the Vietnamese-language service of Radio Free Asia (RFA), a sister entity of BenarNews.
"We are extremely concerned about the safety and well-being of Truong Duy Nhat," RFA President Libby Liu said on Tuesday. "We hope to hear from him as soon as possible about his whereabouts and to be assured that he's not in any danger," she said.
Nhat's disappearance has sent a chill through the Vietnamese refugee community in Thailand and prompted a call from Human Rights Watch for Thai authorities to investigate.
Sources said that Nhat had gone to the office of the United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees in Bangkok on Jan. 25 to apply for refugee status.
The Thailand-based sources, who requested anonymity because they feared for their own safety, said that Nhat went missing the next day during a visit to Future Park, a huge mall on the outskirts of Bangkok. One of the sources said Nhat was "arrested" at an ice cream shop on the third floor of the mall.
Thai police said they don't have Nhat in custody.
"We've checked through the list of detainees, we don't see him, Truong Duy Nhat, on the list," Police Col. Tatpong Sarawanangkoon, who is in charge of the detention section at the Immigration Detention Center in Bangkok, told RFA.
The UNHCR was tightlipped, citing privacy concerns. Associate external relations officer Jennifer Harrison said: "Due to reasons of confidentiality and data protection, we are unable to comment on individual cases."
'An urgent obligation'
Nhat's wife, who is in Vietnam, and their Canada-based daughter believe that he left Vietnam for Thailand about three weeks before they heard he had gone missing, according to thevietnamese.org, an online magazine.
The authoritarian government of Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc is at present holding more than 200 political prisoners, including rights advocates and bloggers deemed threats to national security, according to the California-based Vietnam Human Rights Network.
The government controls the news media, censors the internet, and restricts basic freedoms of expression.
Nhat himself served a two-year-imprisonment in 2014-2015 for his activism after being arrested in May 2013 and held in detention until his trial.
Human Rights Watch, or HRW, urged Thai authorities to investigate the case of Nhat, noting that he had come to Bangkok to apply for political asylum.
"[T]he Thai authorities have an urgent obligation to seriously investigate this disappearance," Phil Robertson, HRW's Bangkok-based deputy Asia director, told RFA.
Robertson accused Vietnam of "consistently engaging in hostile surveillance and harassment of Vietnamese and Montagnard [minority] who fled the country to escape political and religious persecution, and this includes activities in Bangkok."
California-based blogger Nguyen Van Hai, who was detained in the same prison with Nhat before Hai's release in 2014, said he believes Nhat was abducted by Vietnamese security agents in Thailand.
"We are looking at the possibility that he has been abducted," Hai told RFA.
"We know he arrived at Bangkok and went to the UN's office to apply for refugee status. If for any reason Nhat now appears in Vietnam, it must be against his will," Hai said.
Kidnapped in Berlin
This is not the first time the Vietnamese government has been accused of abducting its citizens from abroad.
Last year, a German court jailed a Vietnamese man almost four years for helping his country's secret services kidnap a former oil executive from a Berlin street in 2017 and smuggle him back to Vietnam.
Ex-oil executive Trinh Xuan Thanh was seeking asylum in Germany at that time and his disappearance soured bilateral relations, with the German foreign ministry accusing Vietnam of breaching international law.
Thanh was subsequently tried and jailed for life on corruption charges in Vietnam.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

Authorities in the insurgency-stricken Thai Deep South said Thursday they had found no evidence so far to charge 18 Cambodian Muslims in custody over suspected rebel links, but most were indicted for immigration violations.
The 15 men and three boys were picked up during raids since Jan. 28 at two Islamic Pondok schools in Mayo district, Pattani province, on suspicion of training to join separatist insurgents in Thailand's mainly Muslim southern border region, officials said. They said all 18 would be sent back to Cambodia.
"Whether they have links with the BRN or not, it's not immediately known. That needs in-depth investigation," Col. Pramote Prom-in, the spokesman for the Internal Security Operations Command-4 (ISOC-4), the Thai military command in the Deep South, told BenarNews.
He was referring to the National Revolutionary Front (BRN), the most powerful of insurgent groups in the region, which is suspected of carrying out frequent attacks.
Fourteen of the Cambodians were being held at the Pattani Prison while awaiting prosecution over alleged violations of Thai immigration law, including entering the country without proper papers or overstaying their visas, the district police chief in Mayo said.
Of the remaining four, the three minors were confined to a local boys' home, while a Cambodian man with valid papers was in the care of immigration police, the chief said.
"During military interrogation, they did not show any signs which could lead to us to believe that they support insurgents. They came to learn and hope to have leadership [skills] when they go back home," Maj. Gen. Piyawat Chalermsri, the Pattani provincial police chief, told BenarNews.
The BRN has battled the Thai military for at least 15 years, demanding direct negotiations with Thailand's junta in peace talks. Since 2015, hardcore BRN leaders have stayed away from Malaysia-brokered talks between Bangkok and an umbrella body representing various rebel organizations in peace negotiations. Nearly 7,000 people have died since the insurgency flared up again in 2004.
Thai authorities, meanwhile, have cast suspicion on local Pondok schools as possible breeding grounds, training facilities and sources of funding for the insurgents.
The arrests of the Cambodians began on Jan. 28, when Thai security forces rounded up a first batch of 11 while catching them allegedly practicing martial arts and bare-handed fighting late at night in the yard at the Pondok Al-Falah Pattani in Mayo.
The other seven were arrested from another Pondok school in the district on Monday, officials said.
All 18 were interrogated at a military camp before being transferred to police custody on Wednesday, according to the authorities.
That same day, 13 of the Cambodians were indicted at a Pattani municipal court for staying in Thailand after their visas had expired, while a 14th Cambodian was charged for illegal entry.
"We brought them to the municipal court, which indicted them. They will be tried on Friday and Monday and, hopefully, they all can be sent back next week," Komkrit Srisong, the Mayo police chief, said.
In past years, the Thai government was wary of scores of Cambodian Muslims traveling to the Deep South to study at Pondok schools, according to security officers.
In 2004, Thai authorities shut down the Jihad Witaya School, a Muslim campus in Pattani's Yaring district, over suspicion that its administrators were allowing insurgents to use its grounds for weapons training.
And early last year, the Thai military investigated the Bakong Pittaya School, accusing campus staff of embezzling state funds to finance violent activities, including a twin bomb attack that injured more than 80 people at a department store in Pattani on May 9, 2017.
After last week's raid at the Pondok Al-Falah Pattani, the owner's wife defended the school against the allegations that it could be linked to insurgents.
"I guarantee that this Pondok does not encourage violence, no training for such purposes. They practiced Cambodian traditional sports," Asdeela Salamae told BenarNews. "But, I admit, those Cambodian students held expired documents."
Her husband and a Thai student were also interrogated at a military facility but were released without charge, police said.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn ruled on Friday that involvement of royal family members in politics contradicts the constitution, in a rare decree that essentially crushed his elder sister's unprecedented bid to become prime minister.
The king issued his ruling hours after Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya Sirivadhana Barnavadi stunned the nation with a tweet that she had allowed the Thai Raksa Chart party to nominate her as their prime ministerial pick if they triumphed in next month's elections.
"All royal family members are above and neutral in politics. They must not bear political position," the king said in a statement released by the palace and read on national television. "Otherwise, it is deemed breaching constitution and tradition of constitutional monarchy."
Ubolratana, 67, said in her tweet that she had become a commoner, having relinquished her official royal title in 1972 when she married Peter Jensen, an American who was her fellow student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
"I have accepted the Thai Raksa Chart party nomination for prime minister to show my rights and freedom without any privileges above other fellow Thai citizens under the constitution," she wrote.
But the king's statement in the Royal Gazette said that Ubolratana, being the eldest child of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej and senior to other royal family members, was still considered a member of the royal family.
"To bring senior royal family members to politics contradicts tradition, norm and the culture of the country," the king said. "It is deemed extremely inappropriate."
Ubolratana's foray into politics threatened to pose an unexpected challenge to Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha, who also announced his candidacy Friday for parliamentary elections, and until her announcement was the frontrunner in the much-delayed polls.
Her nomination by Thai Raksa Chart Party, which was allied with fugitive former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his sister Yingluck Shinawatra, was unprecedented, as Thai royals have never been openly involved in Thai politics.
"Party executives agreed that Princess Ubolratana is knowledgeable, capable and most suitable," Preechapol Pongpanit, the leader of the Thai Raksa Chart Party, told reporters after submitting her name to the election commission.
Ubolratana moved back to Bangkok after her divorce with Jensen, with whom she has three children. She is popular among youngsters and has posted photos regularly on social media. She also carried out charity work, took acting roles and led an anti-drugs campaign.
Prayuth, who seized power when he led the coup that deposed Yingluck in May 2014, earlier told reporters that he had accepted an invitation to be a premier nominee for the Palang Pracharat Party, which was formed by his cabinet ministers.
"I affirm I have no intention to hold on to my power," Prayuth he said.
Nearly 10,000 candidates from 104 political parties have registered for the March 24 general elections this week, and parties nominated their choices for prime minister.

[https://www]

An official of Palang Pracharat party submits documents nominating Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-Cha as candidate for premier, in Bangkok, Feb. 8, 2019. [AFP]



* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

A Bahraini footballer was freed from Thai custody on Monday and was preparing to return to Australia, where he has refugee status, after authorities in Thailand said his home country had dropped its request for his extradition to serve out a 2014 conviction.
A court in Thailand's capital approved the release of Hakeem AlAraibi, 25, from the Bangkok Special Prison, where he had been held for 76 days, in response to the notification by Bahrain that it was withdrawing its extradition request, Thai officials said.
He and his wife headed to Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport, where they were waiting to board a late night flight to Melbourne, according to local media. AlAraibi, who was granted asylum in Australia after fleeing Bahrain to avoid prison, did not speak to reporters upon his release.
A senior official with the Thai attorney-general office who processed AlAraibi's release said it had received notification about the extradition cancellation on Monday morning.
"The foreign ministry informed us that Bahrain no longer intends to proceed with him, therefore it advised the attorney general to withdraw [the case]," said Chatchom Akapin, director general at the International Affairs Department of Office of the Attorney General.
Thai officials did not discuss details of Bahrain's request.
" cannot disclose the reasons, but all processes were carried out according to laws," Thai foreign ministry spokeswoman Busadee Santipitaks said.
In a statement posted on its website Monday, Bahrain's foreign ministry said it had taken "note of the halt in legal proceedings against Hakeem AlAraibi in Thailand."
However, the statement did not confirm or make clear whether Bahrain had withdrawn its extradition request.
"The guilty verdict against Mr. AlAraibi remains in place and Mr. AlAraibi holds the right to appeal this court verdict at Bahrain's Court of Appeal. The Kingdom of Bahrain reaffirms its right to pursue all necessary legal actions against Mr. Al Araibi," the statement from the Bahraini Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
A day earlier, the state-run Bahrain News Agency reported that Prime Minister Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa had talked over the phone with Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha, but BNA offered no specifics on their discussions, according to the Associated Press (AP). In addition, BNA said that Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa met Sunday with the Thai foreign minister, who was visiting Bahrain, but the agency did not release details of the meeting.
Meanwhile in Australia, Prime Minister Scott Morrison thanked those involved in securing AlAraibi's release, AP reported.
"What we would like to do tonight is to thank and show our appreciation to the Thai government for the decision that they have taken today," Morrison said. "We greatly respect the process that they have had to work through and we greatly appreciate their listening to the issues that have been raised by our government and many others who have raised this case."
Rights activists react
AlAraibi's lawyers could not be reached for comment, but rights activists celebrated.
"Hakeem's release today is a triumph for rights activism and social media campaigns and marks world football's successful entry on to the global human rights stage," said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch.
"Thailand stepped up today, reversing a serious injustice and re-affirming its respect for the rights of refugees. And Australian policy makers learned that when they speak out loud and clear in one voice, anything is possible," Robertson told BenarNews.
AlAraibi, who plays for a football club in Melbourne, was arrested at Suvarnabhumi Airport on Nov. 27, 2018, as he and his wife arrived for a vacation in Thailand. The immigration bureau chief said officials detained him in acting upon an Interpol "Red Notice" at the request of Bahrain. Interpol later revoked the notice.
Bahrain wanted AlAraibi extradited to serve a 10-year sentence. He was convicted and sentenced in absentia in 2014 on charges of arson, vandalism and possession of explosive materials for vandalizing a police station in November 2012.
AlAraibi rejected Bahrain's extradition request on Feb. 4, telling a Thai court he was innocent. He has maintained he was participating in a televised football match at the time of the crime.
In addition, AlAraibi said Bahraini authorities had tortured him while he was in custody in 2012. He fled from Bahrain before his trial and was granted asylum in Australia in 2017.
Since AlAraibi's detention began, Australia, world football confederation FIFA, human rights groups and football fans had called for his release, launching a social media campaign with the hashtag #SaveHakeem.
"The best part is Hakeem's wife, his football club, and his fans across Australia and the world can finally see him back where he belongs – out on the field playing the beautiful game and not in a prison cell," Robertson said.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

Thai authorities have deported eight Cambodian Muslims who were part of a group of 18 arrested after they were initially suspected of training to join separatist insurgents in Thailand's mainly Muslim southern border region, diplomats said on Monday.
An official at the Cambodian Embassy in Bangkok, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said in an interview with RFA's Khmer Service that the embassy had received notice from the Thai government about only 11 Cambodian Muslims in the group.
She said they were guilty violating immigration laws, not for aiding separatist causes.
"[The 11] are merely accused of overstaying their visas in Thailand," said the official.
"A couple of them [didn't even have] passports. The eight that were older than 18 have already been released," she said.
"After [the] authorities found that they had not committed any serious offenses, they had to pay a fine and were deported," said the official.
"As for the three minors, Thai law requires them to stay under youth center guidance for a short period, around one month from the date of arrest," she said.
The official explained that the guidance they would receive involved education aimed at preventing future violations of immigration law.
When asked about the other seven Cambodian Muslims that were part of the 18 reportedly arrested in late January, she said that the embassy had no knowledge of them.
Senior Minister Osman Hassan told local media that the eight who were deported arrived through Poipet border checkpoint on Sunday, and that they would be sent to their individual homes on Monday.
RFA tried to contact the senior minister several times but were unable to speak with him.
Meanwhile, Am Sam Ath, an official from the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO) welcomed the release of the eight Cambodian Muslims.
The representative of the local rights group urged Cambodians, especially those of the Muslim faith, to be cautious about traveling to Thailand's southern provinces.
He said travel to the region by Muslims was controversial due to ongoing conflicts with a separatist group, referring to the National Revolutionary Front (BRN), which has battled the Thai military for at least 15 years, demanding direct negotiations with Thailand's junta in peace talks.
Since 2015, hardcore BRN leaders have stayed away from Malaysia-brokered talks between Bangkok and an umbrella body representing various rebel organizations in peace negotiations.
About 7,000 people have been killed since the insurgency flared up again in 2004.
Reported by Radio Free Asia, a sister entity of BenarNews.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

Thailand and the United States welcomed 9,000 military personnel from nearly 30 countries to Exercise Cobra Gold 2019, as the world's longest-running international military training program kicked off here on Tuesday, officials said.
Gen. Pornpipat Benyasri, the supreme commander of Thailand's armed forces, was joined by Lt. Gen. Gary J. Volesky of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and Peter Haymond, the deputy chief of mission for the American Embassy in Bangkok, during the opening ceremony in northern Pitsanulok province.
"We have witnessed that this Thai-American initiative has become a significant milestone of military collaboration for decades and has expanded to the regional level," Pornpipat told troops and others attending the opening ceremony. "I believe that not only Cobra Gold serves as the platform of understanding and working together in the region but now has become beneficial for our other strategic partners."
About 4,500 U.S. personnel and a similar number of troops from up to 28 nations are participating this year, officials said. They said that China and India, which have attended previous Cobra Gold exercises, will participate this time in humanitarian roles only.
The 38th edition of the exercise is to end Feb. 23 and features field training and staff exercises along with humanitarian civic projects throughout Thailand.
The schedule includes an amphibious assault demonstration on Hat Yao Beach in Chonburi province on Feb. 16 and a non-combatant evacuation operation at Wing 46 Air Force Base in Phitsanulok province the next day. Cobra Gold will culminate with a live-fire exercise and closing ceremony on Feb. 22 at the Third Army Training Field in Sukhothai province.
Volesky, the American general, praised the annual training exercise for strengthening ties in the region.
"The military-to-military engagement is critical," he told BenarNews. "Any time we have an opportunity to keep the line of communication open to ensure understanding to prevent any misinterpretation is good for us and so we encourage military-to-military exchanges."
"And you see we are very excited to be here with Thai partners to do this. This is one many engagements we have opportunities to do across the entire Pacific, again, to keep free and open the Pacific region for everyone," he said.
Haymond said major allies Thailand and the U.S. could promote peace in the contested South China Sea, while the U.S. maintains its policy of a free and open Pacific Ocean.
"The United States does not have a claim in the South China Sea, Thailand does not either, but both of us can work to encourage the claimants to settle their claims peacefully and to assure that all countries can share the same rights to international for transport around the world," he told BenarNews.
"We also urge all countries who have overlapping claims to the South China Sea or elsewhere, to work out their claims in peaceful fashion."


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

With about six weeks left till a general election, Thai authorities have ordered a television station linked to deposed ex-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to go off air for 15 days, accusing it of airing content causing public confusion and divisiveness.
The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission's (NBTC) order against Voice TV was issued Tuesday, officials said. Members of the public had filed multiple complaints against the station since 2015, the commission said as it pointed out how Voice TV was previously shut down over similar issues.
"The license is suspended for 15 days from the date of order issued," NBTC commissioner Peerapong Manakit told reporters, alleging that the station had been involved in "creating confusion and instigating disturbance."
Responding to the telecoms regulator's order, Voice TV chief executive Mekin Petplai described the ruling junta's action as discriminatory and said he would file a lawsuit seeking more than 100 million baht (U.S. $3.2 million) in damages.
"We know that there would be an order to suspend our station, which would cause impacts," Mekin said in a press statement. "We really consider it discrimination."
He said the company would seek temporary protection from the Administrative Court.
Voice TV, owned by Thaksin's son, Ponthongtae Shinawatra, has been shut down twice before – in 2014 and 2017.
In 2015, NBTC received four complaints against the station, 11 the following year, 10 in 2017 and nine last year, Peerapong said.
He said two programs on Voice TV – Wake Up News and Tonight Thailand – had received three complaints since January this year. But he declined to specify which content had caused public confusion.
"I would not say much details. I will not mention the offenses to others," he said. "There are programs broadcast that caused confusion, incitement, something like that. We warned them. Is this measure unreasonable?  It is not overly unreasonable."
A copy of the NBTC order mentioned Voice TV interviews with two prime ministerial hopefuls from Thaksin's Pheu Thai party, according to Reuters.
Takorn Tantasith, NBTC's secretary-general, said the television station had violated several sections of the 2008 Broadcasting Act.
Voice TV was first shut down in 2014, two days before a coup that overthrew Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, Thaksin's younger sister. Thaksin served as prime minister from 2001 until he was overthrown in a coup in September 2006.
Yingluck fled Thailand in August 2017 before she was to appear in court to hear the verdict over charges of gross negligence in a failed rice subsidy scheme during her tenure. A month later, she was sentenced in absentia to five years in prison.
Government officials said they were unsure of the Shinawatras' whereabouts, but the siblings were recently photographed together in Singapore.
The March 24 polls will be the first electoral battle between the followers of the Shinawatras and Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha, a former army general who led the military coup that toppled Yingluck five years ago.
The NBTC order came the same day that Thai Raksa Chart, a populist movement linked to Thaksin and the Shinawatra clan, expressed public contrition for selecting Princess Ubolratana as its prime ministerial choice, an unprecedented political bid for a member of the royal family.
King Maha Vajiralongkorn quashed the princess' candidacy within hours, chiding it as "highly inappropriate" in the Buddhist-majority nation where the wealthy monarchy is revered and protected by Lese-Majesté, a draconian law that protects the royal family against insults and offensive statements.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

Thailand's election regulator urged the Constitutional Court on Wednesday to disband a party that nominated a princess as its pick for prime minister, saying the unprecedented move was hostile toward the monarchy.
The Thai Raksa Chart party on Feb. 8 named Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya Sirivadhana Barnavadi as its sole choice for the nation's top political leadership. But her younger brother, King Maha Vajiralongkorn, immediately issued an edict condemning her candidacy as "extremely inappropriate."
"On Tuesday, the Election Commission considered the premiership nomination of a person and found it is hostile to the constitutional monarchy," the Election Commission (EC) said in a press statement.
It also emphasized that it had recommended that Thai Raksa Chart be dissolved, preventing it from participating in the March 24 general election.
The commission said it had "resolved to seek the Constitutional Court's consideration to disband the Thai Raksa Chart Party in line with Section 92(2) of the Political Party Act."
The court said it would decide on Thursday whether to accept the case.
Princess Ubolratana said she was saddened by the reaction to her nomination.
"I regret my genuine commitment to helping the nation and all Thai people in turn caused such a trouble that should not be a trouble in this era," she wrote on her private Instagram account Monday. She followed her comment with the hashtag #howcomeitsthewayitis.
Preechapol Pongpanit, the party leader, told reporters he was still waiting for copies of the court petition.
"We have the right to explain," he said. "Give Thai Raksa Chart Party a chance to refute all accusations."
He said his party had good intentions in nominating the princess. "I still stand by our position that we're innocent," he said.
Preechapol was a high-ranking member of Pheu Thai Party, which was linked to former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. His party's maneuver to woo voters by naming the princess stunned the nation and broke the tradition of the royal family publicly staying out of politics.
The election commission put an end to the short-lived candidacy on Monday, echoing the king's words as it disqualified the 67-year-old princess from the coming polls. Members of the monarch's family are required "to be above politics and to be politically neutral," the commission said.
But while the EC was empowered to seek court verdicts involving political parties, it should first gather sufficient evidence from the accused party, said Pichit Chuenban, the party's chief legal adviser.
"Evidence gathering should not be done in a one-sided way," Pichit told reporters Tuesday. "The international standard must be followed to ensure fairness to all."
Escalating political turbulence
Princess Ubolratana's nomination escalated the political turbulence in Thailand, which has been a constitutional monarchy since 1932. Thais revere the monarchy and consider the king – who commands the devotion of millions – to be semi-divine.
But her attempt to participate in national elections and align herself with the Shinawatra clan would pit herself against the junta led by Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha, who declined to give his opinion about the extraordinary sequence of events.
"I don't have an opinion on who should be responsible for the Feb. 8 incident because it is up to the agencies involved," Prayuth told reporters Tuesday. "Let bygones be bygones, no more troubles."
The March 24 polls will be the first electoral battle between the followers of the Shinawatras and Prayuth, a former army general who led a military coup that toppled Yingluck five years ago.
Yingluck was sentenced in absentia to two years in prison for rice subsidy fraud, but managed to flee the country in 2017. She has since lived in self-exile in several countries with Thaksin, who also fled Thailand following a 2006 military coup but has remained popular among rural Thais.
The dramatic events during the past few days reignited political tensions, analysts said, as many Thais expected that parties connected to Thaksin would pose a significant challenge to Prayuth, despite a new military-drafted constitution that allows the junta to appoint the 250 members of the Senate.
Along with the lower house, the Senate gets to vote for prime minister, and Thai Raksa Chart's dissolution would lead to an uphill battle for supporters of the Shinawatra clan, analysts said.
"Should the party be dissolved, the other pro-Thaksin party, Puea Thai, would be politically vulnerable – by itself it might not be able to win a majority of seats in the lower house of parliament, and it too could face efforts to remove its members from politics or even dissolve it after the election in March," Pavin Chachavalpongpun, an associate professor at Kyoto University's Center for Southeast Asian Studies, wrote Wednesday on the website of the Council on Foreign Relations, a New York-based think tank.
A Thai academician said the election commission's move to get Thai Raksa Chart dissolved was unfair.
"I see the EC is not fair to all sides," Professor Anusorn Unno, dean of sociology and anthropology at Thammasat University in Bangkok, told BenarNews.
"Previously Palang Pracharat Party was suspected with its fundraising feasts. No one investigated it," Anusorn said, referring to the controversial fundraisers organized earlier by the pro-military party.
"But this (nomination) issue was raised Friday and decided in only two working days," he said, alleging that the election commission's decision was biased in favor of the junta.
Concerns about the fairness of the forthcoming polls were also raised on Tuesday after the nation's telecoms regulator, citing national security concerns, suspended the operating license of Voice TV, a station linked to the Shinawatras.
NBTC commissioner Peerapong Manakit told reporters, without elaborating, that the station had been involved in "creating confusion and instigating disturbance."
On Wednesday, New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said taking a television station off the air, even temporarily, is unjustified censorship that will raise doubts about the fairness of the media environment ahead of national elections.
"The suspension of Voice TV underlines the message that criticizing Thailand's military government prior to the elections is forbidden," Brad Adams, HRW's Asia director, said in a statement.
"Thailand's generals are showing they don't intend to ease their heavy-handed rule over the country to ensure a fair vote."


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

Unidentified gunmen shot dead two farmers at a remote fruit plantation area in Thailand's Deep South on Thursday, officials said, in a flare up of violence that has killed at least 24 people in the insurgency-hit region since January this year.
Ahama Taleh, 39, and Abdulroha Hajiyamah, 49, were found dead next to a motorcycle on a hilly dirt road in Yaha, a district in the predominantly Muslim province of Yala, police said. Investigators said the two men were attacked while they were on their way home.
"The shooting took place on a dirt road at the back end of Chokaladee village," Police Capt. Isawat Yingkong, the deputy investigator for Yaha station, told reporters. "We found a motorcycle that fell on the ground and two men next to it – shot multiple times."
He said investigators had retrieved three 5.56 mm rifle shells, two 9 mm shells and a 9 mm pistol ammunition at the scene, indicating that there were at least two shooters.
"From initial investigation, two to three gunmen used an M-16 rifle to ambush them, followed by pistol shots after the motorcycle fell," Isawat said.
He said he could not immediately determine the attackers' motive, but added that investigators were looking at all angles, including possible involvement of insurgents.
Meanwhile, Police Lt. Col. Paiboon Watatham, investigator for Ra-ngae police station, said a homemade bomb exploded while a group of soldiers were on patrol near Pa Pai railway station in Ra-ngae, a district in the nearby province of Narathiwat.
"Unidentified men triggered the bomb as six soldiers walked by, but none were injured. They were keeping peace for teachers," Paiboon told reporters. "I believe insurgents wanted to take revenge at officials for the recent deaths of their comrades."
On Monday, security officials said they killed two suspected insurgents – Useh Jehming and Muhammadsakirin Same – in a jungle area in Ilakoh mountain in Chanae, a district next to Ra-ngae, as they traded gunfire with security forces who were in pursuit operations related to the recent killings of two Buddhist monks.
Col. Pramote Prom-in, spokesman for the Internal Security Operations Command Region 4, told reporters Monday that authorities believe the two men were involved in the Jan. 18 attack at the Ratananupab Temple in Su-ngai Padi district in which the abbot and the vice abbot were killed and two other monks were wounded.
"After the gunfire died down, officials found two men dead," Pramote said. "Officials found an AK-102 and M-16 A-2 rifle. We believe they were part of gunmen who killed two monks and injured two others at Ratananupab Temple." He did not elaborate.
About 80 percent of the Buddhist-majority nation's southern tip is Muslim, populated by descendants of a former Malay Sultanate that was annexed by what was then known as Siam in 1902.
The area, known as Deep South, borders Malaysia and encompasses Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala provinces, as well as four districts in Songkhla province.
A steady stream of shootings and bombings in the region have claimed at least 7,000 lives since the insurgency flared up in early 2004.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

Thais are scheduled to vote next month in a long-promised return to democracy after five years of military rule, amid concerns that legal changes put in place by the junta have prevented a truly free election.
Prayuth Chan-o-cha, the junta leader and former Royal Thai Army chief who led the May 2014 overthrow of then-Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, has repeatedly promised to steer the country back on a democratic path, but critics say he has taken calculated steps to stage-manage the balloting scheduled for March 24.
"Even if polls go forward, this will not in any way be a free and fair election," political analyst Zachary Abuza wrote in a recent column for BenarNews.
"This is as rigged as it gets."
Some 14,000 candidates will be running for election next month. Seventy-one candidates have been nominated for prime minister, but analysts believe only four stand out among the pack: Prayuth of the Palang Pracharat Party, Abhisit Vejjajiva of the Democrat Party, Sudarat Keyuraphan of the Pheu Thai Party and Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit of the Future Forward Party.
But the real question is whether the opposition parties – those linked to former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who now lives in exile with his sister Yingluck – can gather enough support to form a government, according to analysts.
"I see Palang Pracharat winning a majority of seats, along with the Democrat Party and Pheu Thai Party, and it has a tendency to be able form a government because Prayuth is well accepted to a certain degree and the Constitution plays in his favor," said Titipol Phakdeewanich, dean of the political science faculty at Ubon Ratchathani University.
"And I think the Palang Pracharat Party could find allies to form a coalition. The military, the junta or the party itself can help cut a deal with others," Titipol told BenarNews.
Dominating politics
Parties linked to Thaksin, a telecoms tycoon who served as prime minister from 2001 until he was overthrown in a coup in September 2006, have dominated the nation's political landscape for almost two decades.
Thaksin's allies are seeking to rally poorer voters who have helped his supporters win every election since 2001, drawn by policies such as cheap health care.
But with the elections merely a month away, their campaign strategies might change, analysts said. Thai Raksa Chart is among those Thaksin-linked parties.
On Feb. 27, the Constitutional Court will meet to decide whether it should disband the Thai Raksa Chart, after its unprecedented move on Feb. 8 naming Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya Sirivadhana Barnavadi as its sole choice for the nation's top political leadership.
Princess Ubolratana's younger brother, King Maha Vajiralongkorn, immediately issued an edict condemning her candidacy as "extremely inappropriate," but Thai Raksa Chart leader Preechapol Pongpanit said he had good intentions in nominating the princess.
"We don't know whether we'll be able to make it to the polls or not," Umesh Pandey, a Thai Raksa Chart member, told reporters. "We are fighting against a regime that seized power five years ago. They have total control of how things are run."
Also on Wednesday, Thanatorn, the leader of the Future Forward Party, is scheduled to meet the attorney-general about computer crime charges filed by police against him in September last year.
The charges, which could result in a five-year jail sentence and fines, stemmed from Facebook posts in which he allegedly accused the junta of "buying off" members of parliament from other parties.
The attorney-general's office has yet to decide if it would seek an indictment, potentially derailing Thanatorn's election bid, a lawyer said.
Voters still undecided
Under a new military-drafted Constitution, the prime minister will be chosen by a simple majority of the legislature, which is divided into two houses – the Senate, which has 250 seats, and the House of Representatives, or the lower house, which has 500 seats.
In previous general elections, the party with 251 seats in the lower house appointed the prime minister. But for the first time, the new constitution requires both houses to choose the prime minister. Now, 376 votes are needed.
Two-hundred Senate seats have already been appointed by the junta. They are not up for a vote. The remaining 50 are being chosen among representatives of 10 occupation groups.
Analysts said that with the junta appointments, it would appear that Palang Pracharat, Prayuth's new party, and its allies could pick the next prime minister by merely winning 126 seats in the lower house.
The new Constitution allocated 150 "party-list seats" on the basis of their share of the overall vote, making it highly unlikely any party will get to name the next premier outright. Alliances will be needed, analysts said.
"This is why the Senate is so important: under the new Constitution, both houses elect the prime minister, rather than just the lower house. Thus a party needs 376 votes (alone or with coalition partners) to form a government. With the Junta controlling most of the 250 Senate seats, that is a very tall order," Abuza said.
More than 51 million Thais are eligible to vote, but a few voters told BenarNews they hadn't made a decision about which party to support.
"I don't like the policy of any party, the same old thing that is impractical," said Apiwat Chobthamdee, a 35-year-old businessman from Ayudhya province. "I keep wondering whether the new government could solve any problems at all."
Apinan Thammavongsa, a 37-year-old school teacher in Sakon Nakohn province, said he would expect a decentralized government, with power reaching rural areas, after the elections.
"I will vote to show participation in democracy. I will elect the party that distributes income and empowers local administrations," Apinan said. "But I doubt if the new government could achieve that."
Analysts, meanwhile, say they expect that the military would extend its hold on power through the balloting.
"Whatever happens after the voting in March – whether civilian parties win, or military forces do, or some combination of both form a government together – the election will not bring democracy back to Thailand," Eugénie Mérieau, a former consultant for the Thai program of the International Commission of Jurists, wrote in a New York Times opinion piece.
Joshua Kurlantzick, senior fellow for Southeast Asia at the New York-based think tank Council on Foreign Relations, said no matter who wins, "Thailand will likely remain in political crisis."
If the opposition Pheu Thai party and its allies gain control of the lower house of parliament, the military and its allies will likely respond harshly, including using the courts to weaken the coalition, Kurlantzick said.
Or the military could maneuver after the election to get many small parties to back the army's favored parties that are unlikely to win a majority in the lower house, he said.
"In this scenario, Thailand would have essentially a democratic facade, behind which the military and the king remain the true powers," Kurlantzick said.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

Buddhist-majority Thailand is scheduled to hold national elections on March 24, the country's first general polls since a military coup in 2014. Political analysts say there are four names to look out for as leading potential contenders for the prime minister's role:
Prayuth Chan-o-cha
Palang Pracharat Party
Prayuth Chan-o-cha, the incumbent prime minister and junta chief, spearheaded a coup that toppled Yingluck Shinawatra's government on May 22, 2014. The military justified Yingluck's overthrow by saying she had failed to end deadly street protests that raged on for almost nine months.
Prayuth, 64, formed the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), the junta's official name, and installed himself as prime minister in August 2014.

[https://www]

Prayuth Chan-o-cha

A former army chief, Prayuth promised to quickly shepherd the nation of 69 million people back toward democracy, but the military has been in effective control since he unseated Yingluck, who later fled into self-imposed exile with her older brother Thaksin, who was also ousted by the military in 2006.
Born in the northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima, Prayuth graduated with a bachelor's degree from Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy, which is considered the nation's equivalent of West Point in the United States.

Prayuth is believed to be staunchly loyal to the monarchy. He strengthened his ties with the royal palace as he began his military career in the prestigious Queen's Guard Unit.
He rose through the ranks, serving as chief of staff of the Royal Thai Army from 2008 and 2009. He became the commander-in-chief in 2010 after briefly serving as honorary adjutant to the king.

Under Prayuth's leadership, the junta cracked down on any perceived forms of dissent, banned political forums, detained activists and gagged the press. Prayuth retired as army chief in January 2016 but remained in power as prime minister, during which he oversaw the drafting of a new constitution.
Two weeks ago, Prayuth accepted an invitation by Palang Pracharat Party, led by his former ministers, to be its pick for prime minister.
In an interview with Time magazine in June 2018, Prayuth defended his decision to overthrow civilian rule. He said the nation "was at the brink of destruction."
"It was the most difficult decision I ever made in my life," he said. "Personally, I never wanted to obtain power this way, never imagine becoming the prime minister like this."
Sudarat Keyuraphan 
Pheu Thai Party
Sudarat Keyuraphan, the high-profile candidate of the main opposition Pheu Thai Party, is a close ally of deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Sudarat, 57, holds a bachelor's degree and a master's in business administration from Chulalongkorn University, a public research institution in Bangkok, where she was born.
She served as minister of public health before becoming minister of agriculture and cooperatives under Thaksin. He was ousted in a 2006 coup and lives in exile after a corruption conviction, which his supporters described as politically motivated.

[https://www]

Sudarat Keyuraphan

Sudarat, who is married to construction magnate Somyos Leelapanyalert, began her political career in 1991 when she was elected as a member of parliament. In 1994, she was appointed secretary-general of the Palang Dharma Party.
In 1998, she co-founded the Thai Rak Thai Party with Thaksin. Three years later, she was appointed public health minister after her re-election as a member of parliament.
Seen as the main challenger to Prayuth Chan-o-cha, Sudarat faces an uphill battle because the ruling junta, during the past five years, has enacted legislation that would virtually prevent any single political party from winning a majority of parliamentary seats.
Pheu Thai, considered by analysts as the flagship party of Thaksin's political machines, has won every national election since 2001. But Thaksin has avoided direct involvement with Sudarat, as junta-imposed election rules inhibit parties from being led by outsiders.
During a campaign in the nation's capital early this month, Sudarat accused the junta of harming the country's economy. She vowed to bring back prosperity.
"The time is up for the tank government," she said, in an apparent jab at the army that often rolls out tanks during coup attempts.
"It's time for professional economists," she said. "It's time for Pheu Thai to save the economy.
Abhisit Vejjajiva
Democrat Party
Abhisit Vejjajiva, who served as Thai prime minister from 2008 to 2011, leads the Democrat Party.
Abhisit, 54, is distinctly upper class, hailing from a wealthy family of Thai-Chinese ancestry. He was born in Wallsend, England, on Aug. 3, 1964, and was educated at England's top public school, Eton College. He then earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy and a master's in economics from St. John's College at Oxford University. He holds dual Thai and British citizenship.
Before going into politics, he was a lecturer at Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy. He then returned to Oxford for his master's before studying at Ramkhamhaeng University in Bangkok, where he received his bachelor's in law.

[https://www]

Abhisit Vejjajiva

Abhisit began his political career in 1992 when he joined the nation's oldest party, the Democrats, and was elected into the House of Representatives. At 27, he was then one of the parliament's youngest-ever members. He was re-elected to the same seat in 1995 and 1996.
He served as a government spokesman and a minister to the Prime Minister's Office for then premier Chuan Leekpai. In 2005, he became leader of the Democrat Party.
Abhisit became prime minister on Dec. 17, 2008, after the Constitutional Court found the ruling party, led by Thaksin Shinawatra's supporters, guilty of electoral fraud. That allowed Abhisit and his allies to form a new government, becoming a prime minister – at age 44 – without calling for a general election.
But Abhisit served at a time when the nation struggled with rising unemployment and budget deficits.
In 2010, Abhisit's government faced a major political crisis: Thousands of Thaksin's supporters paralyzed parts of Bangkok with major protests and more than 90 people were killed when the military swooped in to clear the demonstrations, according to various reports.
Abhisit dissolved parliament and called for a general election in 2011, but he quickly conceded defeat to the main opposition party, Pheu Thai, which was then led by Yingluck Shinawatra.
In December 2013, Abhisit was formally charged with murder in connection with the crackdown on the demonstrators three years earlier. The former prime minister denied the charges and was granted bail. He was acquitted by the Supreme Court in August 2017.
Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit
Future Forward Party
Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit entered Thailand's turbulent politics with a mission to transform Thai society, offering democracy as an alternative to military rule.
Thanathorn, a scion of the country's largest auto-parts company, leads the Future Forward Party.
"Give democracy a chance," the American- and British-educated candidate told reporters at the launch of his party in March 2018.
Thanathorn said he hoped to win the support of "ordinary people," as he jabbed at the ruling junta.

[https://www]

Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit

Thanathorn, 40, has grabbed headlines with his statements under a military regime, which rights groups have criticized for its repressive laws. Despite claiming he got multiple death threats, Thanathorn has publicly discussed his idealistic ideas, making him an appealing political prospect to the nation's young, educated and urban electorate.
"This is not an era for coups in Thailand. This is the 21st century and people want to see the country return to democracy," he told BenarNews last week as he campaigned at Suan Dusit Rajabhat university in Bangkok.
Such statements are rare in a country that has seen multiple coups since 1932, and where appeasing the military has always been seen as essential for political success, analysts said.
Thanathorn is former executive vice president of the Thai Summit Group, a privately held auto-parts company. He was born in and grew up in Bangkok, the second eldest in a family of five children.
He received his bachelor's degree in engineering from Thammasat University, and his bachelor's in mechanical engineering from the University of Nottingham. He also holds three master's degrees. During his college years, he was known as a student activist.
On Aug. 24 last year, Thai police charged Thanathorn and two senior leaders of Future Forward Party with violating the nation's Computer Crime Act, which could result in five-year prison terms.
The complaint, filed on behalf of the junta, alleged that Thanathorn violated a section of the law, which makes it a crime to transmit false information or information that damages the country's stability, according to Future Forward spokeswoman Pannika Wanich.
Col. Burin Thongprapai, chief legal officer for the junta, told reporters that he filed the charges because in a Facebook live broadcast Thanathorn had made accusations against the country's leaders and twisted facts.
"I know that by starting this party, it seriously means I might go to jail tomorrow," Thanathorn told reporters. "But there's no other way we can make a positive change in this country until there is a new political party of the people."


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

A court in junta-led Thailand ruled Wednesday that national broadcasting regulators had unlawfully suspended a TV station owned by the son of fugitive former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) on Feb. 12 ordered Voice TV to go dark for 15 days, accusing the station of airing program content that caused public confusion and divisiveness.
The station went off the air at midnight Feb. 13 but began broadcasting again on Feb. 15 after lodging a suit against the NBTC and obtaining a court injunction.
"The order of the accused is not correct according to the procedures ... Therefore, the resolution of the accused is not fair," the administrative court in Bangkok said as it ruled in favor of Voice TV, referring to the commission as the accused party in the station's lawsuit.
Also on Wednesday, a court delayed taking action on a call to dissolve a political party that had nominated Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya Sirivadhana Barnavadi as its prime ministerial choice for Thailand's general election, scheduled for March 24.
In addition, the attorney general delayed a decision on filing charges against the leader of Future Forward Party until March 26, two days after the polls.
"We filed a petition to the Administrative Court over the suspension order of Voice TV because we want to make a standard that regulatory government's agency must be politically balance and respect media freedom and freedom of speech," Voice TV Chief Executive Mekin Petplai told reporters after Wednesday's ruling.
Thaksin and his sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, are both deposed former prime ministers who live in exile. They have been banned from taking part directly in Thai politics, but they remain influential and their opposition Pheu Thai Party has fielded candidates for the upcoming election.
Thai Raksa Chart party
The NBTC order against Voice TV came the same day that the Thai Raksa Chart party, a populist movement linked to the Shinawatra clan, expressed public contrition for selecting Princess Ubolratana as its prime ministerial choice.
King Maha Vajiralongkorn quashed the princess' candidacy within hours, chiding it as "highly inappropriate" in the Buddhist-majority nation where the wealthy monarchy is revered and protected by Lese-Majesté, a draconian law that protects the royal family against insults and offensive statements.
On Wednesday, the Constitutional Court set March 7 as the date to announce its verdict regarding whether the party should be dissolved. The Election Commission initially found that the party was "hostile to the constitutional monarchy" and requested that the court rule against the party.
"The court discussed the matter and found that the case has substantial evidence and there is no need for further hearings. ... The court will consider the case in the afternoon on March 7 and will announce the decision later on the same day," the court said in a statement delivered to the media.
A legal adviser for the Thai Raksa Chart Party who appeared at the court Wednesday said the party would accept the decision regardless of the results.
"The party has submitted clarification to the accusation and witnesses' accounts that we have no intent to be hostile to the constitutional monarchy," Surachai Shinchai told the media. "Regardless of the results, we would accept it."
As they wait for the court to rule, party leaders continue to campaign.
Attorney general announcement
Meanwhile, the attorney general delayed a decision on whether to indict Future Forward Party leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit and two accomplices, whom police have charged with violating Thailand's Computer Crimes Act, but said it would appoint a committee to consider the case on March 26.
The attorney general alleged that on two occasions in 2018, Thanathorn and his accomplices said that Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha, the junta chief, had bought-off politicians from other parties.
"Because these cases are important and are interested to the media and people, the attorney general chief will order a setup of a committee to consider the case," deputy spokesman Prayuth Petchkoon said.
"We believe in our innocence. We believe people have rights to criticize the rulers, a basic democratic right," said Thanatorn who appeared at the attorney general office Wednesday morning. "We believe the attorney general should perform the duty duly."


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

Masked gunmen kidnapped and shot dead two policemen in Thailand's Deep South, hours after insurgents were also suspected of detonating a bomb that killed a soldier and wounded two others near a local cemetery, officials said Wednesday.
Also on Wednesday, unidentified gunmen shot dead a man in Pattani, one of the provinces in the Deep South, police said.
About eight men in balaclava masks barged into a teashop in Tambon Bukit in Cho I-rong, a district of Narathiwat province on Tuesday evening, and seized the two police officers who were having tea, police quoted witnesses as saying.
"It looked like the attackers dragged them down from a pickup truck, shot them at close range and pushed them into the ditch," Col. Lukman Boko, chief of the Cho I-rong police station, told reporters.
The brazen abduction and killing of the lawmen was unusual even in Thailand's volatile southern border region, where security personnel often are targeted randomly in roadside bombings.
"Each was found with bullet wounds to the body and the head," Lukman said, referring to the policemen whose bodies were found early morning Wednesday about 200 yards from the teashop.
The dead cops were identified as Cpl. Nares Iedthong, 31, and Cpl. Ruswaidi Samae, 30.
"I believe the insurgents stalked the two policemen for some time for them to know that the officers were frequent customers at the teashop," a police detective, who asked not to identified, told BenarNews. "It seems that they specifically targeted the police officers."
The assailants, who fled in a stolen pickup truck, seized a rifle and two handguns from the officers who were in plain clothes, investigators said.
It was not immediately clear if the three incidents were related, but they occurred in the Deep South, where Malay Muslim separatists have been waging a rebellion for decades.
The officers were abducted hours after a bomb blast on Tuesday morning in Bunnang Sata, a district in Yala province. The explosion killed a soldier and injured two others, including a woman who was hit while riding her motorcycle, officials said.
Col. Teerayuth Saiyeud, commander of the 33rd Ranger Task Force, said the explosion took place as his men were walking near a cemetery in Bacho village, where they were assigned to provide security for a small school.
Thailand is a majority Buddhist country but the Deep South, which borders Malaysia, is predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking.
In recent years, rights groups such as the Human Rights Watch have condemned violence in the Deep South that has killed about 7,000 people since the insurgents reignited their separatist campaign in January 2004.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

A newly passed cybersecurity bill empowers state agencies to monitor internet traffic even without a warrant, rights advocates and a lobby group for high-tech companies said Friday, in the latest sign of a junta clampdown on online speech weeks before long-promised polls.
The Cybersecurity Act, which was unanimously approved on Thursday, would potentially compromise private and corporate data, according to the Singapore-based Asia Internet Coalition (AIC), whose members include Facebook, Google and several other major technology companies.
"The law's ambiguously defined scope, vague language and lack of safeguards raises serious privacy concerns for both individuals and businesses," said Jeff Paine, AIC's managing director.
"This would give the regime sweeping powers to monitor online traffic in the name of an emergency or as a preventive measure, potentially compromising private and corporate data," Paine said in a statement.
The National Legislative Assembly passed the cybersecurity bill more than two years after the military-appointed legislature adopted another law, the Computer Crimes Act (CCA), giving the military government broad powers to restrict free speech and enforce surveillance and censorship, according to the Human Rights Watch.
Only a handful of lawmakers opposed the measure, which will be submitted to the king for his signature before it takes effect with publication in the Royal Gazette.
Since Army Gen. Prayuth Chan-o-cha overthrew the elected government of Yingluck Shinawatra in 2014, his National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) – the official name of the junta – has taken steps to curtail freedom, including banning the gathering of more than five people. It has also aggressively enforced an existing Lese-Majeste law, which makes it a crime to insult the king or the royal family.
"This cybersecurity law is a consequence of 2006 coup that security officials and rulers have been longing for to control cyberspace," Sunai Phasuk, a Thai researcher for Human Rights Watch, told BenarNews, referring to the coup that deposed Yingluck's older brother, Thaksin.
"They did not have such a tool in the past," Sunai said. "To put it simply, until now the NCPO hasn't abolished orders or announcements that deprive rights and freedom necessary to make elections free and fair."
The junta also suspended opposition media, including Voice TV, a station owned by Thaksin's son. This week, a court ruled that the nation's broadcasting regulators had unlawfully suspended the station on Feb. 12, when they ordered the station to go dark for 15 days for allegedly airing program content that caused public confusion and divisiveness.
The station went off the air at midnight Feb. 13 but began broadcasting again on Feb. 15, after lodging a suit against the NBTC and obtaining a court injunction.
During "emergency cases," the Cybersecurity Act 2019 empowers authorities to access online information, search computer data and networks, make copies of information and seize computers, without a court warrant. Real-time online traffic can be monitored and criminal penalties will be imposed to those who violate orders.
The law stipulates that the prime minister would lead the National Cybersecurity Commission, supervising an apparatus that would "prevent, cope with and lessen the severity of cyber threats."
Saowanee Suwancheep, chief of the committee that drafted the cybersecurity bill, called a snap news conference to quell fears that the the legislation might leade to abuse of power.
"I'm clarifying here that there is no element in the law that empowers authorities to breach rights and freedom of citizens, she said. "Searches must be pre-approved by a court."
"It is aimed at containing national threats and [the cybercrime law] has clear definition of what threats are," she said.
Since it seized power five years ago, the junta has prosecuted about 100 people on charges of violating Lese-Majeste, under which offenders can be sentenced to as many as 15 years in prison, according to rights groups.
Earlier this year, police charged seven pro-democracy activists with sedition and defying a ban on public gatherings for leading a January demonstration that drew about 100 people in downtown Bangkok. The junta lifted that ban in December last year.
An academic expressed concerns that the cybersecurity law's definition of "threats" was too broad.
"The problem lies in the interpretation of officials, what are deemed security issues. It may be used for political purposes," Titipol Phakdeewanich, dean of the political science faculty at Ubon Ratchathani University, told BenarNews.
"It is fearsome when that authority is used under the junta or the NCPO, which enjoys draconian powers," Titipol said. "The government might use it to attack its political opponents."


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

Thailand's Constitutional Court on Thursday dissolved an opposition party linked to deposed former leader Thaksin Shinawatra, ruling it had acted in a hostile way toward the monarchy by nominating a princess as its prime ministerial candidate for upcoming elections.
In early February, the Thai Raksa Chart Party proposed Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya Sirivadhana Barnavadi to the election commission as its sole candidate for the nation's top political post. Her younger brother, King Maha Vajiralongkorn, swiftly issued a royal decree condemning her candidacy for the March 24 polls as "extremely inappropriate."
Acting on a request from the election commission, a nine-judge-panel unanimously decided to disband the pro-democracy party associated with fugitive ex-Prime Minister Thaksin, who exerts influence over Thai politics despite living in exile. In addition, the Constitutional Court panel voted 6-3 to ban 13 Thai Raksa Chart executives from politics for 10 years.
"[T]he status of the monarchy which is above politics and political neutral was undermined. ... The act is deemed being hostile to the constitutional monarchy in accordance with Section 92(2) of the Political Party Act, the court therefore ordered that the Party dissolved accordingly," Judge Taweekiat Meenakanit read from the verdict broadcast to reporters gathered at the court house.
Thursday's ruling to disband the party, which came 17 days before the general election, was the latest in a series of decisions taken by the same court against parties or governments aligned with Thaksin and his sister Yingluck, who were ousted by military coups in 2006 and 2014, respectively.
Another judge said King Rama VII, who abdicated the throne in 1932 and lived in exile in Great Britain until his death, had wished to keep the royals completely out of politics. The party's nomination, which aimed to have a royal gain administrative power while having the king as the head of state, was deemed to be unconstitutional and subversive, the panel said in its decision on Thursday.
Thai Raksa Chart Party leader Preechaphol Pongpanit said he and other party officials regretted their actions.
"After hearing the court ruling, I and the party's executives reaffirm that we honor the royal decree given on Feb. 8 and we are loyal to the king and all royalties," Preechapol told reporters at the court.
"The disbanding certainly impacts basic rights and freedom, at least those of the candidates and people who are heading for the March 24 elections," he said.
"We sincerely want to steer the country to the right direction and do good things. ... Though we cannot get to the goal, I thank you of all who walk with us," Preechapol added.
Princess Ubolratana, who was in Germany, reacted to the decision with a posting on her private Instagram account.
"I'm acknowledged (of the news). It is a sad story," she wrote, according to the Matichon online newspaper.
A police official said thousands of personnel were deployed around the court and in suburban Bangkok to maintain order.
About two dozen supporters chanted "Pick the pen, kill the dictator! Pick the pen, kill the dictator!"
"I feel sorry that Thai Raksa Chart Party is dissolved and the party executives are banned because they are a young generation who could change the nation," supporter Napassorn Boonlee told reporters at the court house in Bangkok. "Never mind, we will vote for pro-democracy parties Chat Thai, Pheu Chart, we don't accept a dictator."
Past anti-Thaksin rulings
The same court toppled Thaksin, in 2006, and his younger sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, in 2014, from the prime minister's office and disbanded two other political parties linked to the Shinawatra dynasty, Agence France-Presse reported.
Through Thursday's action the Thai Constitutional Court had now "dissolved three pro-Thaksin parties and ousted three pro-Thaksin governments – with two more ousted by coups," Jonathan Head, the Southeast Asia correspondent for BBC News who is based in Bangkok, said via Twitter.
"It's worth remembering that the Constitutional Court is viewed as partisan by many Thais," he said. "[N]o other political faction has been dealt with like this."
Rights groups react
Human rights groups spoke out against the court's ruling as well.
"This decision highlights the Thai authorities' abuse of judicial powers to restrict the peaceful association and expression of the political opposition. This far-reaching measure raises strong concerns about the human rights to freedom of association and expression in the period leading to the elections," Amnesty International's (AI) Thailand campaigner, Katherine Gerson, said in a statement.
AI said Thailand has seen serious human rights violations during the last decade of political instability, including these last four years of military rule.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the court rushed its verdict.
"Thailand's military junta and the Palang Pracharath Party it controls have used numerous dirty tricks to tilt the political playing field their way. Playing in their favor has been an election commission of Thailand composed of commissioners hand-picked by the junta who rushed to send this case to the Constitutional Court, which quickly obliged by issuing a highly questionable verdict that destroyed a major opposition political party," HRW Asia Director Brad Adams said in a statement sent to BenarNews.
"The big losers today in the dissolution of Thai Raksa Chart Party are the Thai people and their hopes for a return to a rights-respecting democracy."
Meanwhile, a political analyst said the decision proved positive for pro-democracy parties by increasing voter turnout.
"The dissolution of Thai Raksa Chart Party may catalyze supporters of Pheu Thai to vote because they were bullied," Titipol Phakdeewanich, dean of the political science faculty at Ubon Ratchathani University, told BenarNews.
"But I don't think the politic after this would see violence because everyone wants elections. Holding street protests will simply give a pretext to the military to delay the polls."


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

Thai women are fighting an uphill battle in an electoral landscape dominated by men, three female politicians said.
Politics is dirty for "pretty faces," the three women told reporters Wednesday night. The next day, Thailand's Constitutional Court ordered the Thai Raksa Chart party dissolved, ruling that it acted in a hostile manner toward the monarchy by nominating a princess as its prime ministerial choice for the March 24 general election.
"People find that women should not enter politics because Thai politics is dirty, dangerous – especially when you are pretty, rich and you have other choices," Pannika Wanich, spokeswoman for the Future Forward Party, said during a panel discussion at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand (FCCT) in Bangkok.
"People say politics is about one right strong man to lead the country," said Pannika, who is running for a parliamentary seat.
Only seven of about 70 candidates for prime minister are female, according to a report from the FCCT. One of the electoral hopefuls is a transgender, the report said, underscoring that male candidates outnumbered women, even though the nation's population of about 70 million is 51 percent female.
Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya would have been the highest-profile woman among politicians contesting the forthcoming elections. But hours after the Thai Raksa Chart announced her nomination on Feb. 8, her plan to join politics swiftly unraveled when her brother, King Maha Vajiralongkorn, condemned her candidacy as "extremely inappropriate."
Among the leading male candidates for prime minister is Prayuth Chan-o-cha, the incumbent in the office and former army general who spearheaded a military coup that toppled Yingluck Shinawatra five years ago. Yingluck, who is in a self-imposed exile, was Thailand's first female prime minister. She had three women ministers in her cabinet.
Pannika and two other candidates from rival parties – Tidarat Yingcharoen of the Pheu Thai Party and Siripa Intavichein of the Democrat Party – complained about stereotypes against women in the Buddhist-majority nation.
"Traditional voters have a stereotyped mindset of not having women as leaders. We should change the mindset, encourage women to enter politics," said Siripa, who is the spokeswoman for her party.
"We are equal in politics," she said, "but when I look at the number, it is not equal."
Seventy-nine women ran for a seat in the 500-member House of Representative in 2011, according to the Election Commission.
Women in Thailand occupy more than one-third of the CEO and CFO positions, far higher than the global average, according to the thailandbusinessnews.com.
But in the political arena, the news website said, Thai women are underrepresented, as cultural barriers remain strong in a society that has experienced more than 20 military takeovers or attempted coups since the country became a constitutional monarchy in 1932.
About 12 million women or 52 percent of voters cast their ballots in the 2006 general election, but only 8.7 percent of the parliamentarians were female, it said.
Pheu Thai's Tidarat said women should be trained to lead under an environment that allows women to excel.
"Train women to have better skills," she said. "Change social perception to support women."
Pannika, a former TV anchor, said female politicians should not only touch on "soft" issues such as education or public health, but on topics like military reform.
But, she acknowledged, it would be a tough sell to attract voters in a male-dominant culture that discourages women from entering politics.
"They just want to see pretty faces," she said, referring to male voters.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

Several small bombs exploded in the Deep South and in two nearby provinces beginning late Saturday, officials said Sunday, the day insurgents marked the 110th anniversary of a treaty where Thailand returned parts of its far south to Britain.
Attackers successfully detonated bombs at public places in Pakpayoon district and Maung district of Pattalung province, followed by two explosions at Satun's Maung district police station, police said, adding no one was injured by the blasts. The bombs were set off two weeks before junta-ruled Thailand was scheduled to hold its first general election since the military seized power through a coup five years ago.
Both provinces are adjacent to the northern section of the Deep South, where a bomb was defused in Rue Soh, a district in Narathiwat, along with another in Yala's Bannang Sata district, officials said.
"There were about eight bomb explosions while some others did not explode since Saturday evening," said Pol. Lt. Col. Samroeng Machoo, the chief of Pakpayoon police station in Pattalung. "The latest bomb targeting a rail track at Trai Pon village this afternoon was removed and destroyed."
Satun governor Jaruwat Kliangklao said investigators have not determined if the one group is responsible for the bombings.
"Security officials are trying to handle this matter," he told reporters.
After the attacks, Col. Pramote Prom-in, military spokesman in the Deep South, said authorities could not immediately determine the cause.
"But we do not rule out insurgents' involvement, political conflict in the elections or underground gangsters – human traffickers and drug dealers who suffered from suppression," Pramote said.
Stolen motorcycle
He added that a bomb-rigged motorcycle used in an attack was stolen from Saba Yoi in Songkhla province, one of 37 districts in the conflict zone in the Deep South, late last year.
"We believe they are the same group who planned and coordinated attacks to undermine the image and the trust in the government," Pramote said, adding there were injuries as a result of the explosion.
A defense ministry spokesman said Gen. Prawit Wongsuwan, the deputy prime minister for security affairs, will fly to the south to oversee the investigation.
In recent years, human rights activists have condemned violence in the Deep South that has killed about 7,000 people since insurgents reignited their separatist campaign in January 2004.
On Friday, a military spokesman said security officials in Deep South have been on full alert in reaction to graffiti reading "Patani 110," in reference to the anniversary of the 1909 Anglo-Siamese Treaty began appearing in the insurgency-hit region.
Siam, the former name of Thailand, signed a treaty with Britain, which included a transfer to the British government all rights of protection, administration and control over the states of Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah, Perlis, and adjacent islands.
The Malaysian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through its embassy in Bangkok, issued a statement advising citizens traveling to or residing in Thailand to "remain vigilant and pay close attention to personal safety at all times."


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

Candidate and prime ministerial hopeful Abhisit Vejjajiva waved at potential voters as he rode in a motorcycle with a sidecar in Thailand's predominantly Malay Muslim far south, where a shadowy separatist insurgency has killed almost 7,000 people since 2004.

Abhisit was among candidates from various parties who talked about how they would approach the challenge of ending the conflict in the heavily militarized region, while campaigning in the Deep South earlier this month ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for March 24.
"We don't see that the problems can be solved militarily," Abhisit, 54, told a rally in Pattani, one of the provinces in the region, on March 3.
If his party won the general election, Abhisit promised, he would support peace talks with insurgents operating in the Deep South.
"We need to move forward with the talks with a clear direction," said the leader of the Democrat Party – Thailand's oldest party – as he called for decentralization of power away from Bangkok, saying this would be in line with the wishes of locals in the multicultural far south.
Abhisit was not alone among high-profile candidates who talked about "decentralization" as a solution for peace, while they were out and about campaigning in the southern border region. Eleven parliamentary seats representing the region will be up for grabs when up to 1.3 million voters in the Deep South head to polls later this month, according to the election commission.
Even Thailand's military government, which has been pursuing Malaysia-brokered peace talks with the southern rebel groups since 2015, said lately that it was open to exploring the D-word, an idea it had resisted in the past.
In early January, Udomchai Thammasarorat, Thailand's new chief negotiator in peace talks, announced that his side was "studying" the concept of decentralization on advice from Mahathir Mohamad, the new prime minister of neighboring Malaysia.

[https://www]

Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, leader of the Future Forward Party, delivers a speech during a campaign rally in Pattani, southern Thailand, March 1, 2019. [Mariyam Ahmad/BenarNews]

Militarized region
After he toppled Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra in May 2014, junta leader Prayuth Chan-o-cha adopted several measures against the separatist insurgency, including deploying 60,000 troops and thousands of paramilitary ranger units to the Deep South, according to the International Center for Political Violence and Terrorism Research (ICPVTR), a think-tank based in Singapore.
Prayuth complemented the troop deployments with the enforcement of an emergency decree and the Internal Security Act in the conflict areas, providing security forces with the option of detaining suspected insurgents for seven days at any location or 30 days with a court-issued warrant, ICPVTR said in a report.
In 2015, the junta launched a new effort at engaging in Malaysia-facilitated talks with the southern rebels. Since then, the military government has been dealing at the table with MARA Patani, a panel representing insurgent groups and factions in the peace process.
But nearly four years on, the talks have yielded no breakthroughs and hardcore leaders of Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) – the largest and most powerful of the southern rebel groups – have stayed out of the talks while carrying on with the insurgency.
A local man and former BRN "operative" in Deep South, who identified himself only as "Abdullah" in a recent interview, said the insurgents had urged their sympathizers in the region to vote for pro-democratic parties in the March 24 polls.
He did not name the political parties.
"They want to make sure pro-military parties won't make it," he told BenarNews, referring to the insurgents.
On Monday, Thai government officials blamed southern insurgents for a series of bomb blasts that struck in the Deep South and two provinces farther north over the weekend. No one was injured, but at least five suspects were arrested in connection with the blasts, police said.
It is rare for insurgents to set off bombs outside the confines of the Deep South.
"We defended [the Deep South] well, so they moved up to Pattalung and Satun [provinces] because they cannot mount attacks in the Deep South," Prawit Wongsuwan, the deputy prime minister and defense minister, told reporters Monday.
"We arrested a handful of suspects ... [the attacks] are very unlikely related to politics," he said, referring to the upcoming polls.
The Deep South, an impoverished region where martial law is in place, is overseen by Bangkok's central government through an entity called the Southern Border Provinces Administration (SBPAC).
Prayuth, the incumbent prime minister, leads the Palang Pracharat Party. However, he is not expected to campaign in the Deep South after the party called off its plan to have the former army chief take the stage during rallies across the country, The Nation, a leading Thai daily newspaper, reported last week.

[https://www]

Thawee Sodsong, Prachachart Party's secretary-general, greets students while campaigning in Pattani, southern Thailand, March 2, 2019. [Mariyam Ahmad/BenarNews]

Promising to solve 'social disparities'
Among other candidates who hit the campaign trail in the Deep South earlier in March was Thawee Sodsong, secretary-general of the recently launched Prachachart Party. The party is unique to the region. Its executive body is largely represented by members of the Deep South's Muslim majority.
Thawee is a former head of SBPAC, who was removed from office following the coup that toppled Yingluck.
"We will return justice to the people and solve the problem of social disparities," Thawee told a rally, as the audience of about 3,000 roared in approval. "Prachachart wants to return rights and power to the people!"
"In the past, Thailand tried to solve its problems with two parties – the security forces and dissidents," said Thawee, a retired police colonel, referring to rebels as "dissidents."
"But each time violence occurred, the victims are women, children and innocents, so we need multiple parties to get involved," he added
'There must be decentralization'
The day before Thawee campaigned in the region, Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, scion of an auto-parts company and founder of the Future Forward Party, also rallied his supporters in Pattani province.
"Economic disparity must be solved," Thanathorn, a 40-year-old who is also a prime ministerial hopeful, told reporters, as dozens of giggling teens wearing hijab used their smartphones to take photos of him.
"There must be decentralization, empowering locals so that they can handle their own matters," he said.
Sobri Salae, a Pattani resident, said he hoped to vote for a candidate who could become a competent prime minister. He did not name his pick.
"I won't elect any liar," he told BenarNews. "I will vote for the competent one who can bring about prosperity and peace."


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

The largest and most active insurgent group in Thailand's Deep South marked its 59th anniversary Wednesday with a videotaped message asking the international community to help solve the long-running conflict and pledging to carry on with its separatist fight.
On the same day that Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) posted its six-minute video online, Thai army chief Gen. Apirat Kongsompong traveled to Pattani province in the Deep South to advise troops to prepare contingency plans leading up to Thailand's general election, scheduled for March 24.
The BRN video features a lone speaker, who identified himself as Abdul Karim Khalib in videos released by the group in 2013. He spoke in Malay and the video carried English and Thai subtitles.
Marking the organization's anniversary, Abdul said, "In the midst of difficulties and wishes to unite a strong unity of people, BRN was established on 13 of March 1960 as an organization to continue a people demand and reclaim of ownership rights," according to the English subtitles.
"The purpose of BRN is to unite all kind of Patani people into one line," he said. "BRN will make a united people and receive the freedom, all freedom according to the United Nations by our fair self-government."
Abdul also asked for the world's help in bringing an end to the conflict while asking those in the Deep South to be patient.
"The real Patani situation at the present is the negotiation issue. It's not about process of negotiation because Thailand usually denies and reject when there is a demand which belong to the international way," Abdul said.
His comments appeared to reiterate the BRN's earlier demands that it be allowed to negotiate directly with the Thai government in peace talks and that the international community be involved.
Hardcore leaders of the BRN have stayed away from current peace efforts that have been under way since 2015 between the Thai military government and MARA Patani, a panel that claims to represent various southern insurgent groups and factions, including the BRN.
"So, to the all Patani people, let us continue this struggle into the end," Abdul said, ending his videotaped statement. "Be patient of suffering, be patient of difficulties. The Sustainable peace is [a]waiting us."
Zachary Abuza, a Washington-based security analyst and BenarNews contributor, took note of the emergence of the latest video disseminated online by BRN's "Information Department" to mark the 59th anniversary of the rebel group's founding.
"It doesn't sound like they're on the ropes and ready to negotiate, no matter what blather comes out of the #Thai government," Abuza said Wednesday in a Twitter post.
Vigilance
In Pattani, meanwhile, Apirat told troops to be vigilant as the election neared.
"We will step up safety measures to safeguard soft targets such as temples, mosques and public places which appear to be at risk of attacks, before and after the polls," he said.
He vowed that troops will protect electoral officials at polling stations and voters as they travel to the polling stations and cast their ballots.
"We also will set up rapid deployment teams to cope with situations and arrange helicopters to carry ballots to safety in case of an emergency where the election commission requests our assistance," he said.
Apirat's visit to the troops came days after a military spokesman said security officials in the Deep South had been on full alert in reaction to graffiti reading "Patani 110," in reference to the anniversary of the 1909 Anglo-Siamese Treaty began appearing in the region.
Siam, as Thailand was formerly known, signed a treaty with Britain, which included a transfer to the British government all rights of protection, administration and control over the states of Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah, Perlis, and adjacent islands.
The Deep South and two nearby provinces were rocked by a series of small bombs that went off Saturday into Sunday as the region marked the treaty's anniversary. Officials reported that no one was injured by the blasts, but blamed the explosions on insurgents, adding these were not related to the upcoming polls.
Thailand's southern border region has been marred by insurgency related-violence that has been blamed for almost 7,000 deaths since 2004.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

Nearly 87 percent of 2.6 million eligible Thais cast early ballots on Sunday, the election commission chief said Monday, pointing to likely enthusiasm among voters after eight years without a national vote.
About 51.4 million people are eligible to vote in Thailand's general election, which is set for next Sunday, March 24. It will be the first parliamentary polls since the democratically elected government of Yingluck Shinawatra was toppled in May 2014 through a coup led by army Gen. Prayuth Chan-o-cha. He has since served as prime minister and is seeking to be elected to the top post.
"I am satisfied with the turnout," Election Commission chairman Ittiporn Boonprakong said. "There were 2.6 million people signed up for advance voting. We found 86.98 percent exercised that right and, in some [areas], more than 90 percent of those registered turned out to vote."
In the previous national election in 2011, about 75 percent of 46.9 million nationwide came out to vote, according to the commission.
Thais said they were pleased to again have a voice in democracy.
"I feel good to have voted today ... I am pleased and enthusiastic about this election," Warisara Damrilertworakul, a Bangkok-based businesswoman from Pitsanulok province, told BenarNews. "I hope this election makes the country better. We have faced hardships over the past years."
The vote comes amid criticism that the 2016 constitution was tailored to give an advantage to pro-junta parties and Prayuth by empowering 250 senators handpicked by him to help the lower house choose the next prime minister. Those senators include military leaders.
To control the government, a party must win at least 376 seats – one more than half of the 500 seats in parliament and 250 seats in the senate combined.
 
Turnout
On Sunday, hundreds of military personnel cast ballots. Defense ministry officials affirmed that they were free to vote for any party or candidate.
In Pattani, one of the insurgent-stricken provinces in the Thai Deep South, an army leader said he led soldiers to vote.
"About 1,900 soldiers from the 15th Infantry Division signed up for advance voting and came out to vote today. We are showing that soldiers are also good citizens," Col. Surathep Nookaew told BenarNews.
"We invited election commission officials to educate us because the voting process this election has changed. We want to vote correctly without invalidating our rights."
Critics, meanwhile, claimed that the soldiers trucked to polling places were compelled to vote for pro-junta parties.
On Monday the junta's legal officer filed a formal complaint requesting that police investigate the administrator of a U.S.-based Facebook page, CSI LA, for allegedly uploading a false statement. The administrator, who was not named, posted what he said was a photo of troops listening to their leader as he told them to vote for the junta.
"The armed forces does not have a policy to compel soldiers to vote for certain party candidates, it is their personal freedom," legal adviser Col. Burin Thongprapai said.
The CSI LA administrator responded that he had heard complaints from military personnel.
"I have evidence from military insiders. I just act as the voice of the voiceless," the administrator said.
Last year, the administrator posted photos of Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon wearing luxury watches, leading Prawit to claim that the watches had been borrowed and were returned, Thai media reported at the time.
Glitches
Ittiporn told reporters there were some irregularities during the first day of voting.
A stack of ballots was stolen and marked for a certain party in Samut Songkram, on the outskirts of Bangkok, he said.
"Police spotted the ballot stack and destroyed it. We replaced the stolen ones with new ballots and filed a complaint with police," Ittiporn said without elaborating.
In addition, police were notified of someone using another's identification card to cast a ballot in Uthai Thani province, he added.
Ittiporn also admitted that officials handed the wrong ballots to voters in a certain constituency without naming where.
"We cannot do anything to fix this issue after the ballots were collected and packed for further counting," Ittiporn said. "But we can inform the police."


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

A Thai criminal court sentenced one of the country's wealthiest men Tuesday to 16 months in prison after finding him guilty of illegal hunting in a wildlife sanctuary, but acquitted him of the more serious charge of possession of a black panther carcass.
Premchai Karnasuta, the president of construction giant Italian-Thai PLC, and three of his company's employees were arrested at Thung Yai Naresuan National Park in February last year after park rangers found them with guns and the skinned carcass of a panther and other wildlife species protected under Thai law, authorities said. Premchai and the three men pleaded not guilty in May and were released on bail.

"The first defendant is sentenced to six months in jail for jointly carrying guns in public place, eight months for supporting others to hunt wildlife, two months for possessing the carcass of a gray peacock-pheasant – a total of 16 months in jail," the court sheet distributed to the media stated, referring to Premchai.
The Thong Pha Phum provincial court acquitted Premchai of possessing the panther carcass – the highlight of the case that ignited national outrage and spurred public skepticism about whether rich Thais are immune from the law. The court found the three other men guilty of possessing the panther carcass and ordered each of them to serve a variety of sentences, from four months to more than three years.
Premchai and one of the defendants were ordered to pay fines of 2 million baht (about U.S. $64,500) for the damages caused to the wildlife sanctuary in western Kanchanaburi province.
"I have a word to say: I apologize," Premchai told a throng of reporters as he walked to his luxury SUV.
One of Premchai's co-defendants, a helper who was not involved in the hunt, received a two-year probation. Premchai and the two others were temporarily released on bail, their lawyers said, emphasizing that they would appeal.
"We will refute the charges," Kijja Ali-Isho, one of the defense lawyers, told reporters.
The black panther is a subspecies of the Indochinese black leopard, according to environmentalists who said about 900 to 2,500 remain in the wild.
Premchai's company built Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport and the Bangkok Metro system. In May 2017, Forbes magazine listed him among Thailand's 50 richest people, with a net worth of at least U.S. $240 million (7.6 billion baht).
An activist from the pro-wildlife group T'Challa said the verdict was acceptable to him but expressed concerns on why the tycoon was acquitted on the more serious charge of "panther carcass possession."
"I feel OK with the verdict. The court took only over a year to decide that is pretty quick," Tatpong Kaedam told BenarNews.
"But the court should have explained why Premchai was acquitted of possessing panther carcass. We will keep campaigning to not let the panther forgotten," he said. "The society wants to see the rich getting punished."


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

Days before Thailand's first election in eight years, authorities told BenarNews on Wednesday they would seek extradition of exiled leader Thaksin Shinawatra only if they have clear information about his current location.
The businessman who remains deeply popular in Thailand despite a corruption conviction was expected to visit Hong Kong this weekend for a family wedding, according to his social media.
Responding to media reports that the Thai government would ask Hong Kong to aid in Thaksin's return, Chatchom Akkapin, chief of foreign affairs at the attorney general's office in Bangkok, said that his whereabouts were unknown and that Thailand "did not ask for extradition."
"We heard about the news and we contacted other country's Interpol, but we found nothing," Krisana Pattanacharoen, a spokesman for Thailand's national police, told BenarNews.
"If we have clear information, we will deal with the agency involved – the Attorney General's office – to seek extradition," he said. Officials have made similar comments for years.
Thaksin served as prime minister from 2001 until he was overthrown in a coup in September 2006. He fled the country and has been living in exile.
His younger sister, Yingluck, was elected prime minister in 2011, the nation's last election, but thrown out in a coup led by then-Gen. Prayuth Chan-o-cha, who took over as prime minister. Like her brother, she fled the country and is expected to attend the wedding in Hong Kong, according to media reports.
Hong Kong does not have an extradition treaty with Thailand, the South China Morning Post reported, adding that Thaksin has traveled to Hong Kong in the past to meet politicians from his Pheu Thai party.
Two nationwide polls from the first week of March – the final surveys conducted on that scale ahead of Sunday's vote – showed incumbent Prayuth Chan-o-Cha as the voters' top pick for prime minister, but Thaksin's Pheu Thai as the most popular party.
Expected turnout
Thai voters will go to the polls on March 24 for the first time since 2011 to elect a new parliament. About 51.4 million people are eligible to cast ballots, according to government officials.
On Sunday, nearly 87 percent of 2.6 million who had registered to vote early cast ballots, leading election officials to speculate that Thais are enthusiastic about the election.
On Wednesday during a visit to Sothon Wararam Worawihan Temple in Chacheongsao province, Prayuth, who turns 65 on Thursday, prayed to Lord Buddha to allow him to stay in office.
"May the nation, the religion and the monarchy stay safe. I want time to work," he said. "We will not let anyone overthrow the key pillars of government.
"The government will be a bridge to 68 million Thais and make them happy and smile. That is all I want."
The vote comes amid criticism that the 2017 constitution was tailored to give an advantage to pro-junta parties and Prayuth by empowering 250 senators handpicked by him to help the lower house choose the next prime minister. Those senators include military leaders.
To control the government, a party or coalition must win at least 376 seats – one more than half of the 500 seats in parliament and 250 seats in the senate combined.
Titipol Phakdeewanich, dean of political science at Ubon Ratchathani University, said polls showing Pheu Thai out in front could be correct, to a degree.
"I think Pheu Thai will gain the most seats, but by a smaller margin. This election is different from the Thaksin era," he told BenarNews. The long-established Democrat Party, the pro-junta Palang Pracharat and the upstart Future Forward parties could draw away its votes, he predicted.
Party leaders speak out
Earlier this month, former Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, the leader of the Democrat Party, posted on Facebook that he would not support Prayuth or Thaksin's party.
"I'll make it crystal clear: I will certainly not support Gen. Prayuth to retain premiership. Because the power grab causes conflict and contradicts the Democrat's commitment to respecting people," he posted.
As for Thaksin's party, he posted, "The Democrat Party cannot align with the Pheu Thai because our political ideologies could not get along."
He also called on the 250 senators to respect the voices of the people. The senators, because they were selected by Prayuth, are expected to give him a head start toward the magical 376 seats needed to run the government.
Sudarat Keyuraphan, who leads Thaksin's Pheu Thai party, responded to Abhisit's comment.
"It's a pity that the Democrat Party does not make a clear stand to join pro-democracy efforts to resist the dictatorship and its attempt to prolong its power," she tweeted.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

Hiding in Thailand, Vietnamese human rights campaigner Bach Hong Quyen fears he's in the cross-hairs of two nations: Vietnam, which he fled two years ago to escape arrest for his activism, and Thailand, where he had hoped to get sanctuary.
Quyen was instrumental in helping Radio Free Asia (RFA) blogger Truong Duy Nhat, who disappeared in Bangkok in late January, make an ill-fated bid for political asylum. Suspicions that Nhat was abducted by Vietnamese agents with Thai cooperation only deepened after RFA's Vietnamese Service confirmed Wednesday that the blogger was in jail in Hanoi.
That confirmation, provided by Nhat's daughter, was the first word on his fate since he went missing nearly two months ago. BenarNews is affiliated with Radio Free Asia, a U.S.-funded broadcaster.
Nhat's case has further eroded Thailand's long-standing reputation as a haven for refugees in Southeast Asia. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Busadee Santipaks declined to comment Thursday on the latest news on Nhat, beyond saying that the Thai police were handling the matter.
"I am at the moment very worried for my safety and my family's safety," Quyen, 29, a husband and father of three young children, told RFA in an exclusive interview. Although he has U.N. refugee status, which should protect him from arrest and deportation, he says he now lives in hiding, separated from his family to escape detection.
"If the Thai government arrested me, they will definitely give me to Vietnam," he said.
His fears are rooted in what happened to Nhat, a prominent critic of the Vietnamese government whom, rights activists suspect, was detained by Thai authorities at a shopping mall on the outskirts of Bangkok and handed to Vietnamese agents. He was a weekly contributor to the Vietnamese Service of RFA.
Bui Thanh Hieu, a popular Vietnamese blogger who lives in exile in Germany, alleged in a March 10 posting on Facebook that Thai police had taken Nhat to a bar outside Bangkok, where Vietnamese personnel bundled him into a vehicle and drugged him – an account that was repeated by two rights activists who are familiar with Nhat's case. RFA could not immediately verify the details of that account.
Thailand's government says they are still investigating the case, which has drawn strong expressions of concerns from U.S. congressmen.
The response from the Trump administration, however, has been muted. The administration has generally steered clear of tough criticism of the human rights record of Asian allies like Thailand and Vietnam, which last month hosted a U.S.-North Korea summit.
Thais want to 'erase all evidence'
For his part, Quyen says he feels like a marked man because of his inside knowledge of Nhat's disappearance.
He said he helped him find accommodation in Bangkok and submit his application for asylum with the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in the Thai capital on Jan. 25 – the day before Nhat vanished – and has some insight into what compelled the prominent writer and well-connected government critic to flee Vietnam in the first place.
Nhat's daughter, Canada-based Thuc Doan Truong, said that prison authorities had informed her mother and Nhat's wife, Cao Thi Xuan Phuong, that Vietnam had Nhat on Jan. 28 – two days after his disappearance in Bangkok. He is now being held at Hanoi's T16 detention center.
Phuong has not yet been allowed to visit him.
"It's clear that my father did not voluntarily go back to Vietnam," Truong said.
Reacting to the news that Nhat was now in Vietnamese custody back home, global rights watchdog Amnesty International on Thursday called on the Hanoi and Bangkok governments to be transparent about his disappearance from Thailand.
Amnesty said Nhat disappeared shortly after he put in his asylum claim and "following growing harassment by Vietnamese police."
"Reports that Nhat is now in a Hanoi prison are extremely worrying, and we are calling on the Vietnamese authorities to confirm whether he is in their custody and disclose his whereabouts at once," Joanne Mariner, Amnesty's senior crisis adviser said in a statement.
"The Vietnamese and Thai authorities need to come clean about why and how Nhat returned to Viet Nam so soon after he applied for asylum in Bangkok. There is a strong possibility that he was transferred to Vietnamese custody despite the real risk of serious human rights violations," she added.
Later on Thursday, a leading international press freedom advocacy group called for Hanoi to free Nhat at once.
"Vietnamese authorities should immediately and unconditionally release blogger Truong Duy Nhat and allow him to travel freely outside of Vietnam," Shawn Crispin, the senior Southeast Asia representative for the U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists, said in a statement.
"Authorities in Vietnam and Thailand should investigate the circumstances around Nhat's apparent abduction in Thailand and hold those responsible to account under the fullest extent allowable under local laws."
Quyen: 'I can't live with my family'
In Thailand, Quyen articulated his own fears related to this high-profile case in chilling terms – alleging that Thai police and Vietnam want to "erase all evidence" in Nhat's case to cover up what happened.
He cites concerns expressed by human rights activists that the governments of Vietnam and Thailand – which holds its first elections this weekend since a 2014 military coup – may exchange dissidents each are reportedly seeking in the other country.
"At the moment, I can't live with my family because I know the Thai government is following my wife to trace me," Quyen said in the interview, which took place before word on Nhat's fate emerged. RFA agreed not to disclose the time and location of the interview because of Quyen's concerns for his safety.
"We have not lived together for about 10 days. My wife yesterday told me that some policemen parked their car near the building where my family stays. Yesterday evening, someone knocked on the door and went in to check if I was in but they could not find me so they left. They told my wife that they were building security but they did not wear uniform, they wore plain clothes," said Quyen.
He is seeking urgent resettlement in Canada, which has emerged as the leading destination for asylum seekers as the United States has drastically reduced the numbers of refugees it accepts.
Quyen's March 2 appeal for asylum to the Canadian government, a copy of which was obtained by RFA, pleads: "I am currently in an extremely dangerous situation."
RFA called the number listed on the website of Vietnam's embassy in Bangkok to seek comment on Quyen's allegations that Vietnam wanted him deported. The number did not appear to be functioning.
Thailand's immigration authorities denied any knowledge of any efforts to deport Quyen. He had originally fled to Thailand in May 2017 because of an arrest warrant issued by Vietnamese police the previous month for "disturbing public order" after he organized a march to mark the anniversary of a 2016 waste spill that polluted the coast of central Vietnam. The environmental disaster sparked major protests.
"We don't have this Bach Hong Quyen in our system. He was not received here," Pol. Col. Tatpong Sanawarangkoon, the supervisor of the deporting section of the Immigration Bureau, told BenarNews. He said he could not comment on Quyen's claim that Vietnam had sought Thai police help to go after him.
Traditional hub for refugees
Although Thailand is not a signatory of the 1951 Refugee Convention, it has been traditionally been viewed as a hub for refugees fleeing war and oppression in neighboring countries.
Instances of refoulement – or the forcible deportation of refugees or asylum seekers with a legitimate fear of persecution – have in fact been relatively rare from Thailand since it sent more than 100 Uyghur Muslims back to China in 2015, sparking an international outcry.
But refugees still face a precarious situation. Nearly 10 percent of the more than 5,000 U.N.-registered "persons of concern" in Thailand are currently languishing in immigration detention.
Rights group Reporters Without Borders last week said that following a raid on Quyen's home on March 1, it feared Thai authorities could allow Vietnamese agents to abduct him.
"We urge the Thai government to respect the status of Bach Hong Quyen and his family as refugees and to stop intimidating Quyen in any way," said Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF's Asia-Pacific desk.
"Aside from the obligation to respect the fundamental rights of an individual whose only crime was to have informed his compatriots, Thailand's credibility on the international stage is at stake," he said.
Quyen has been living in Thailand with his wife, Bui Huong Giang, and their daughters Bach Yen Nhi, 6, and Bach Gia Han, 3, and 6-month old son Bach Joseph, who was born in Thailand.
He says he has no regret for assisting Nhat, who told Quyen he had fled Vietnam because he feared he would soon be arrested.
Nhat had also confided that he was privy to insider information that could have proved damaging to Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong – information that he had intended to publish once he found asylum in another country.
Quyen explained that he was no stranger to harassment for his activism in Vietnam.
"When I was in danger, many people had helped me," said Quyen. "When Truong Duy Nhat told me that he was in danger, it's normal as a Vietnamese and an activist to help a friend who used to be jailed for what he wrote in his blog and now is in danger."
"I don't regret what I have done," Quyen added. "I'm in danger but at least I'm still free."


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

Thailand's top political parties homed in on support from voters in the capital Bangkok on Friday, as their leaders drew cheers from thousands while wrapping up their campaigns before Sunday's general election, the first since a 2014 military coup.
Appearing for the first time at an official campaign rally, junta chief and incumbent Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha sang and accepted roses from supporters. He vowed to lead the Buddhist-majority nation out of divisive politics.
"From now on, we must join together to carry on what we have done in the past five years to lessen conflicts," Prayuth, the leading candidate for PM of the pro-junta Palang Pracharact Party, told 4,000 supporters at Thephasdin Stadium.
As Prayuth urged his supporters to "love the nation, religion and the monarchy," a giant TV screen displayed a video in which he was seen hugging children, harvesting rice and working during his years as chief of the junta, officially known as the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO).
Some 51.4 million Thais are eligible to vote in the March 24 election. Polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.
Eighty-seven percent of Thais who signed up to vote early on March 17 exercised their right, leading pundits to predict a heavy turnout on Election Day.
 
On Friday, opposition party leaders Abhisit Vejjajiva and Sudarat Keyuraphan separately pitched their electoral promises on the final day of campaigning in Bangkok.
Abhisit, leader of the Democrat Party, which has tried to position itself as the compromise choice, slammed the Pheu Thai Party, the main opposition party affiliated with exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
"This party [Pheu Thai] doesn't talk honestly. But it takes the frustration and the discomfort of the people toward the unelected government to create tense atmosphere for its own purpose," Abhisit told a crowd of about 3,000 who gathered at Lan Kon Meaung square.
"So it [Pheu Thai] doesn't focus on policy but it is determined to win in politics," he said as his supporters cheered.
Sudarat, the high-profile candidate of the main opposition Pheu Thai Party, underscored Thaksin's financial skills during his term as prime minister from 2001 until 2006, when he was overthrown in a military coup.
"As Prime Minister Thaksin took office, he shored up the economy quickly in the first year. And he paid off debt to the IMF [International Monetary Fund] before it was due in two years," Sudarat, 57, said.
She said her party would need "only six months" to solve the nation's economic problems.
Sudarat co-founded the now-defunct Thai Rak Thai party, which literally means "Thais love Thais," alongside Thaksin, a telecommunications billionaire. She also served in his cabinet twice. 

Although Thaksin hasn't set foot in Thailand since 2008, he retains a loyal following, according to analysts. He is in self-imposed exile and lives with his younger sister, former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who was deposed in the 2014 coup. She fled the country in 2017 rather than face possible prison time in a criminal case related to a failed rice subsidy scheme.
Elsewhere in the Thai capital, Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, the 40-year-old leader of the Future Forward Party and prime ministerial hopeful who has attracted a large following among young voters, also held his final campaign rally.
New rules
The vote on Sunday will determine the 500 members of the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the bicameral legislature.
Of the 500 House seats, 350 will be directly elected on Sunday and another 150 "party-list seats" will be assigned based on overall results, under new procedures put in place by the junta.
A 2017 junta-drafted Constitution gives the NCPO the power to appoint all 250 members of the Senate, the upper house of parliament. Under the new rules, a minimum of 376 out of a total 750 seats from both houses of parliament are needed to select a new prime minister.
It is not yet clear when those Senate seats will be announced, although Prayuth has a deadline to propose senators for the king's signature by April 27.
Earlier this week, Election Commission chief Ittiporn Boonprakong said 95 percent of the votes would be counted three hours after the polls close on Sunday, due to new rapid reporting technology in use this year.
Official results are not due until May 9, just days after the royal coronation.
Political analysts say that apart from postponing polls at least five times since the May 2014 coup, the junta has taken moves during the past five years that skewed the system heavily in favor of a continuation of military rule.
"The junta can clearly count on the 250-member appointed Senate to back them," according to BenarNews political analyst Zachary Abuza.
CORRECTION: An earlier version incorrectly stated the polls opening at 7 a.m. Sunday.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

Millions of Thais cast ballots Sunday in Thailand's first general election since a military coup in 2014, as Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha sought to transform himself from junta chief to elected leader.
With 95 percent of votes tallied, Prayuth's Palang Pracharat Party (PPP) had won fewer seats in the 500-member lower house of parliament than the Pheu Thai Party of exiled and deposed former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, according to Thai media reports.
Still, Prayuth, a retired army chief who began leading the country after heading the coup, could end up winning the country's top political office.
Late Sunday, Election Commission (EC) Chairman Ittiporn Boonprakong announced partial results by province but declined to give a tally of parliamentary seats. Updated results would be announced Monday morning, he said.
"Anything else, you will hear from me and the secretary general tomorrow," Ittiporn said.
The Election Commission said turnout was at 66 percent among the 51.2 million people who were eligible to vote to determine the 500 members of the House of Representatives, according to Reuters news service, which cited commission estimates based on 90 percent of ballots counted. That figure contrasted sharply with nearly 87 percent who turned out for early voting on March 17.
Close to 80 political parties competed for House seats.
Pheu Thai had won 129 seats outright, compared to PPP's 98, according to the Bangkok Post, which estimated at 12:30 a.m. Monday (local time) that PPP would be awarded 19 "party-list seats" compared to zero for Pheu Thai.
Of 500 seats in the lower chamber, 350 will be directly elected, and another 150 party-list seats will be assigned based on overall results, under new procedures. In addition, the 2017 constitution allowed Prayuth's junta-led government to hand-pick the entire 250-member senate who will vote with the 500-member lower house for prime minister.
Because he appointed the senators, Prayuth is expected to have overwhelming support from them, giving him a good start on the 376 votes – one more than one half of the House and Senate combined – needed to become the next prime minister.

[https://www]

Junta chief Prayuth Chan-o-cha casts his ballot at Phyathai polling station in Bangkok, in Thailand's first election since the 2014 coup, March 24, 2019. [Pimuk Rakkanam/BenarNews]

Prayuth, the 65-year-old former army chief of staff, has rebranded himself as a "man of the people" with an Instagram account showing him cooking, hugging elderly women and riding a train with smiling children.
"The military has been doing everything in order to be able to extend its power. The way the constitution has been drafted ... everything has been skewed toward helping the military maintain its grip on power," Umesh Pandey, a former MP candidate with the now-banned Thai Raksa Chart party, told BenarNews hours before the polls opened.
Leader steps down
Another former prime minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva, appears to be the first political casualty of the election. The leader of the Democrat Party, Thailand's oldest political party, announced his resignation following a poor turnout at the polls.

"The unofficial results did not meet my targets in terms of the number of seats or being No 1. I must apologize to all Democrat supporters for being unable to push our ideology forward," Abhisit said. "I must show responsibility. I'm resigning as party leader."
Meanwhile, Sudarat Keyuraphan, the leader of Thaksin's Pheu Thai party, took a firm stance after voting.
"We have longed for an election for so long, to exercise the right to vote for the country and for us all," Sudarat told reporters after she cast her ballot. "I hope the election commission takes good care of the elections, counts the tally with transparency."
She went on to say the party receiving the most votes should have the right to form the government, the Associated Press reported.
King's message
Leading up to Sunday's vote, King Maha Vajiralongkorn issued a message citing a speech delivered by his late father in which the revered monarch said he worried about national security and advised listeners to "prevent bad people from grabbing power."
"Maintaining national peace and order is therefore not about making everyone good; it's about supporting good people so they can govern and prevent bad people from grabbing power and creating trouble and unrest," the statement said, quoting a speech delivered to boy scouts 30 years ago.
Chumphon Phansuwan, 69, a retired civil servant, was among Bangkok residents who came out to vote early on a hot, sunny election day.
"I want democracy, of course, that is why I come out to vote. I want the government to solve problems. The economy is bad," he told BenarNews.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

A pro-junta party and the party whose government was ousted in a military coup five years ago were running neck and neck in Thailand's election, local media reported late Sunday.

With 95 percent of votes tallied, the Palang Pracharat Party (PPP) and the Pheu Thai Party each won 140 seats in the 500-member lower house of parliament, according to the Bangkok Post.

Earlier in the evening, Election Commission (EC) chairman Ittiporn Boonprakong announced partial raw results by province but declined to give a tally of parliament seats thus far, drawing howls of protests from reporters on site.

"Anything else, you will hear from me and the secretary general tomorrow," Ittiporn said.

The Bangkok Post tally combined directly elected seats and projected party list seats, which are assigned according to a complicated formula devised by the junta. The EC had earlier announced it would not calculate the 150 party list seats until results are certified in May.

Pheu Thai directly won 125 seats and netted 15 party list seats, according to the Post. PPP took 97 constituency seats and 43 party list seats, it said. 

Those results could pave the way for incumbent Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-Cha to remain in office, if all 250 senators hand-picked by the junta vote for him. 376 of 750 parliament seats are needed to form a government. 

But the senate membership has not yet been announced.

The new Future Forward Party led by young businessman Thanatorn Juangroongruangkit came in third with 87 seats (26 constituency seats and 61 party list seats), according to the Post. 

Abhisit Vejjajiva's Democrat Party came in sixth with 39 seats total, leading the former prime minister to announce his resignation as leader of Thailand's oldest political grouping.

"The unofficial results did not meet my targets in terms of the number of seats or being No 1. I must apologize to all Democrat supporters for being unable to push our ideology forward," Abhisit said. "I must show responsibility. I'm resigning as party leader." 

Analysts had projected a win in the lower house for opposition parties, but said a junta-led government was still a potential outcome due to electoral laws the military government put in place. 

"I insist that the party that receives the most votes has the right to form the government first," Pheu Thai party leader Sudarat Keyuraphan told supporters after polls closed, the Associated Press reported.
An earlier version of this story incorrectly gave the total number of parliament seats as 700.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

There were no reports of insurgency-related violence and voter turnout was heavy as up to 1.3 million voters in Thailand's Deep South cast ballots in Sunday's general election – and notably for a party with strong local roots – officials said.
The Prachachart Party, a pan-Muslim party based in the border region near Malaysia, won six out of 13 parliamentary seats representing Pattani, Narathiwat, and Yala provinces as well as two districts in neighboring Songkhla province, according to unofficial Election Commission counts of votes.
The Democrat Party, Thailand's oldest party that dominated the Deep South in the 2011 general election, won only two seats in Sunday's electoral contest in the heavily militarized region, officials said.
Prachachart's leader, Wan Muhamad Noor Matha, the first Thai Muslim to serve in parliament and lead the Wadah Group, a coalition of southern Muslim politicians, was running as Prachachart's prime ministerial candidate in the election.
"I believe I could win 20 seats in this election with the Prachachart Party. Pro-democracy parties nationwide will win and form a coalition," the 74-year-old party leader, who is better known as "Wan Noor," told Benar News before casting his ballot at a polling site in his home province of Yala.
Prachachart, a newly formed party, campaigned on a platform of promoting peaceful religious coexistence between Muslims and Thai Buddhists, cracking down on drugs and finding solutions to 15 years of insurgent violence. Nearly 7,000 people have been killed in the Deep South since the decades-old rebellion flared up again in 2004.
Roadside bombings and other attacks by ethnic Malay armed separatists are a frequent occurrence in Thailand's mainly Islamic far south but, for a day at least, things were relatively peaceful on Sunday.
"The situation is good and I urge people to come out, as many as you can," Pattani Gov. Kraisorn Wisitwong told reporters as he cast his ballot.

[https://www]

Security personnel and electoral officials count votes at a polling station after polls closed in Narathiwat, a province in Thailand's troubled Deep South, March 24, 2019. [AFP]

'A native'
Sukifli  Ayosae, the deputy village headman in Yala's Yaha district, was among Wan Noor's supporters.
"The leader is a native. He can pray and go for the Hajj [pilgrimage] like us, and he understands our trouble," Sukifli told Benar. "Other persons in the party also have experience in the Deep South. They know what problems people are facing and how to solve them."
Thawee Sodsong, a retired police colonel who serves as secretary-general of Prachachart, said his party believed in engaging with local people to find solutions to the conflict.
"When violence occurs, the victims are women, children and innocents, so we need multiple parties to get involved," Thawee said.
Involving people and giving them a voice in helping to solve the violence is important, given that martial law is in force throughout the Deep South and allows the military to arrest and hold suspects without charge, he suggested.
"I think it is hard to change laws that quick but we can stop allowing military to solely use [martial] law... [P]eople should have involvement in the case of the military's detention of suspects," Thawee added.
Sunday's vote took place against the backdrop of Malaysia-brokered peace talks between the Thai military government and MARA Patani, a panel representing various southern rebel groups and factions in the negotiations. The talks have lasted nearly four years but led to no breakthrough.
Before politicians swung through the Deep South while on the campaign trail earlier this month, a local man and former BRN "operative" in the region, who identified himself only as "Abdullah" in a recent interview, said the insurgents had urged their sympathizers to vote for pro-democratic parties in the March 24 polls.
BRN, or Barisan Revolusi Nasional (the National Revolutionary Front), is the largest and most heavily armed of the insurgent groups in the Thai far south.
"They want to make sure pro-military parties won't make it," Abdullah told BenarNews, referring to the insurgents.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

Exiled politician Thaksin Shinawatra on Monday slammed Thailand's election even as his pro-democracy party and the pro-junta Palang Pracharat Party (PPP) claimed that each had mandates to form a ruling coalition government.
Thaksin's Pheu Thai party based this claim on Election Commission results showing it had won the largest number of seats in the lower house, while the PPP pointed to its lead in the popular vote.
"This is a terrible, and sad, moment for my country," Thaksin wrote in an opinion piece in the New York Times that blasted Thailand's junta.
The polls were the first nationwide vote held since the military overthrew Thaksin's sister, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, in a coup nearly five years ago. Thaksin, a former PM, was himself deposed by military force in 2006.
"People in office are supposed to come and go while the system remains. This military government is ready to destroy the system simply to keep its people in power," Thaksin said in his op-ed article.
Pheu Thai had won 137 of the 350 contested seats in the lower House of Representatives and PPP, which supports Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha, had taken 122, according to election results announced Monday. Both were scrambling to form coalitions with the three other major winners, Future Forward (84), Democrat (52) and Bhumjaithai (51).
The figures combine directly elected seats and 150 party list seats, which BenarNews has calculated based on a mathematical formula devised by the junta that gives parties credit for total votes received (see graphic). The Election Commission said it would officially announce the party list MPs in early May.
In addition, the 250 members of the Senate, who are being hand-picked by the junta, will join the lower chamber in electing the next prime minister. The senators have yet to be announced.
Because of the way they are selected, most senators are expected to vote for Prayuth, giving him a boost toward the 376 votes (one more than half the 500 in the House combined with 250 in the Senate) needed to become prime minister. In previous elections, the Senate was not involved in the election of the prime minister so only 251 votes in the House were needed.
Sudarat Keyuraphan, who leads Pheu Thai, said she was ready to lead.
"As the party that was given the biggest mandate by the people, we will further gather the seats to form a government. As we've said before, the party that won the most seats in the lower house should be the one to form the government," she said.
She questioned the election results.
"There were many irregularities in this election so these are the things that need to be solved and to be made clear," she said. "Otherwise, it will not get international credibility and pose suspicion to Thai people."

[https://www]

Palang Pracharat Party leader Uttama Savanayana (left) walks into a press conference in Bangkok, March 25, 2019. (AP)

Coalition discussions
PPP leader Uttama Savanayana, on the other hand, pointed to the vote total. His party received 7.7 million to Pheu Thai's 7.2 million, according to the EC tally of 95 percent of the vote.
"Palang Pracharat Party got the most votes in this election. From now on, we will discuss with like-minded parties who share the ideology and policy to form a government," he said.
A Thai analyst said PPP was more likely to establish a working coalition that would give Prayuth enough support to continue leading the country.
"Bhumjaithai Party and the Democrat Party lean toward Palang Pracharat, who is ready for negotiation. It is hard for Pheu Thai to form a coalition," said Titipol Phakdeewanich, dean of the political science faculty at Ubon Ratchathani University.
The leader of the Future Forward Party, meanwhile, said he was open to working with another party seeking a return to democracy.
"We are willing to form a coalition with the party that got the most seats in the election, with conditions," Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit said in an apparent reference to Pheu Thai.
His conditions focus on amending the constitution, including revoking section 279 that allows the National Council for Peace and Order (the junta's official name) to maintain power by turning its orders into permanent laws even after a new government takes over. Future Forward also calls for reforms to the military to make it democratic.
Sudarat expressed a similar willingness to work with leaders of other parties.
"We will stick to the same stance to not side with parties that favor prolonging the junta's power. There have been some parties who have made that clear," she said.
The Democrat Party's top official, former Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, announced his resignation from the leadership post on Sunday as results showed that the nation's oldest political party did worse than expected. The party has said it could support the junta government, but not Prayuth.
In 2014, then-Gen. Prayuth led the coup that overthrew the government of Yingluck, who was elected in 2011. Having taken over as prime minister, Prayuth is seeking to be elected to the post.
Election results questioned
In his New York Times column, Thaksin challenged Prayuth's efforts to remain in power.
"The junta appointed the election commission and has interfered with the work of what are supposed to be independent agencies and institutions. It wrote a new, very tricky and self-serving constitution," he wrote. "Thailand can't seem to change its outdated criminal laws or even car-registration regulations, but it rewrites its constitution often.
"More than anything, Thailand should have a government that reflects the will of the people, not the will of the junta."
A Human Rights Watch (HRW) representative in Thailand also questioned the validity of the election.
"From the start, this election gave very little hope to be considered as something credible, free and fair because fundamental freedoms that are required for the conduct of free and fair vote was not there," HRW senior researcher Sunai Phasuk said. "The junta maintained their restrictions on fundamental freedoms particularly the freedom of expression and freedom of the media."
"Sadly there is no public confidence in Thailand at this point with the Election Commission," he said. "They were appointed through junta selected lawmakers so the status of impartiality has been questioned from the beginning."
A day after votes were cast as the nation's political leaders were discussing efforts to take control of the government, a university student said he wanted to see Thailand improve.
"I'm not hopeless. I believe one day the good political ideologies will change the country for the better," student Panawat Nuthawej said.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

A group of Thai opposition parties formed a pro-democracy alliance Wednesday, claiming they had won a majority of the seats in Sunday's parliamentary elections and had the right to replace the ruling military junta with a civilian government.
But new parliamentary rules are in effect to favor the pro-junta party Palang Pracharat, even though it won fewer elected seats in Thailand's first elections since a 2014 coup, analysts say.
Sudarat Keyuraphan, leader of Pheu Thai, the party affiliated with deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and leaders of six other parties told a news conference they believed they had won a combined 255 out of the 500 lower house seats up for grabs.
"Today we have no less than 255 seats from seven parties. We will move forward together ... We take it that we are the majority," Sudarat said.
"We want to stop the regime from hanging onto power," she said. "Parties in the democratic front gained the most trust from the people."
The new democratic front now includes the Future Forward, Pheu Chart, Prachachart, Seri Ruam Thai, Thai People Power and New Economy parties, Phumtham Wechayachai, secretary-general of Pheu Thai, told reporters.
The junta-appointed Election Commission said Wednesday that the final preliminary results on the balloting would be released Friday.
Incomplete and preliminary results so far show the military-backed Palang Pracharat appearing to have won the popular vote with 7.6 million ballots, while Pheu Thai won the most seats. Both parties claim the results indicate that they have mandates to form a new government.
Bhumjaithai Party, another key vote-getter, has not yet aligned with either side.
Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, leader of the Future Forward Party, said he was joining forces with Pheu Thai and other parties "to put an end to the junta's prolonging of power."
"The prime minister must come from the party with the most seats in the elections," he said. "[We] support Sudarat as prime minister."
Sudarat, 57, warned that a "minority government" by using the Senate "will likely cause public turbulence."
"Any parties who want to form a minority coalition would lead the society to an impasse," she said.
Sudarat was referring to the junta's earlier moves to use its absolute power by rewriting laws and commissioning a new constitution and electoral system. The charter, which was passed through a referendum in August 2016, stipulates that an unelected 250-member Senate appointed by the junta will join the 500 elected members of the lower house in choosing the prime minister.
Prime Minister and junta chief Prayuth Chan-o-cha, a former general who led the 2014 coup that deposed Thaksin's younger sister Yingluck, is the prime ministerial candidate of Palang Pracharat.
Despite the seven-party block's claim that it had captured a majority of the lower house seats, those numbers are still not confirmed. Observers said the alliance would face difficulty electing a premier as new rules require that 376 of all 750 seats in the combined lower and upper houses will be needed. Under the new rules, of the 500 House seats, 350 were elected on Sunday and another 150 so-called "party-list seats" were to be assigned based on overall results.
Uttama Savanayana, leader of Palang Pracharat, told a separate news conference that his party would support Prayuth for prime minister and the party would find "ideological allies" in the lower house to form a government.
"Today the results are not final," he said. "Whoever is talking about this issue must bear in mind that the results are not official."
"We don't want to disclose now whom we've approached, but we've talked to many parties," he said.
Getting things under control
Titipol Phakdeewanich, dean of the political science faculty at Ubon Ratchathani University, told BenarNews that if Palang Pracharat successfully established a government, the middle-class Thais might welcome Prayuth and the military "could get things under control."
"If Pheu Thai can set up a government and everyone accepts it, it will be all right," he said. "But there is a tendency that some groups will not accept them."
He warned that if Pheu Thai Party and other members of the alliance decided to undertake moves to reform the military, officials in uniform could launch another coup. Since Thailand's constitutional monarchy was created in 1932, the kingdom has experienced 18 military coups, according to the Congressional Research Service (CRS).
On Tuesday, the Asian Network for Free Elections, which is known by its acronym ANFREL, slammed the tabulation and consolidation of ballots in Sunday's vote as "deeply flawed," although it said it didn't believe the issues affected overall polling results.
Also on Tuesday, the U.S. State Department said robust media coverage of the election and open debate of its merits represented "positive signs for a return to a democratic government that reflects the will of the people."
"We stand with the Thai people in calling for the expeditious announcement of voting results and a fair and transparent investigation of any reported irregularities," the statement said.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

As Muslim-majority regions of Southeast Asia grapple with how to deal with extremists returning home from the Islamic State (IS) group's fallen caliphate in the Middle East, southern Thailand has largely been spared the dilemma as it is believed that none of its citizens went to fight in Syria and Iraq.
According to Muslim activists from Thailand's mainly Islamic southern border region, an on-going armed insurgency by ethnic Malays who are fighting the Buddhist-majority government for greater autonomy has acted as a bulwark against the influence of IS.
"No one from southern Thailand has joined the Islamic State," Suhaimee Dulasa of The Pattani, a social activist group based in Pattani, one of the provinces of the troubled Thai Deep South, told BenarNews during a visit to Kuala Lumpur this week.
"There is no need for anyone to join IS to wage jihad. Anyone who wants to wage jihad for Islam sees themselves fulfilling that calling by joining Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN)," Suhaimee said.
BRN is the largest of the rebel groups in the Deep South. It has the strongest military capacity and controls nearly all of the combatants in the field. Since 2004, insurgency-related violence in Thailand's far south has claimed almost 7,000 lives.
"BRN has been a bulwark against IS in southern Thailand," Suhaimee added.
On March 23, the Kurdish-led and U.S-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) declared that IS' five-year "caliphate" had ended after the militants' defeat in Syria.
Thousands of foreign fighters surrendered to the SDF as some governments considered stripping them of their citizenship, according to news reports from the Middle East and elsewhere.
Southeast Asians from Malaysia, Indonesia and the southern Philippines were among hundreds of foreign fighters who made their way to Syria and Iraq to fight for IS, officials said.
"We in Pattani do not adhere to Salafi jihadi. We are Muslims who follow the Syafii school of thought. We believe in Wasatiyah, the Middle Path," Asmadee Bueheng, also of The Pattani, told BenarNews.
Analysts and Thai officials, meanwhile, have said before that there is no evidence of IS existing in the Deep South, but this was not for a lack of trying.
In December 2015, supporters of Islamic State in Thailand posted online IS propaganda videos that contained Thai-language subtitles. It was the first such effort to recruit local fighters to its violent cause, a senior Thai security official said.
"There are links between IS sympathizers inside and out of Thailand," the source told BenarNews at the time.
But Lt. Gen. Nakrob Boonbuathong, a top army official who used another acronym for IS, said then there was "no report of Deep South natives joining ISIS."
And in November 2017, the Brussels-based International Crisis Group published a study concluding that the Mid-East terror group had made no inroads into the Deep South. The Malay-Muslim armed separatist movement there, ICG said, was very different in nature than the extremist cause espoused by IS.
'Not an international jihadist movement'
Unlike the southern Philippines where several separatist insurgent groups pledged allegiance to IS during the reign of its so-called caliphate, southern Thailand's largest insurgent group, BRN, bucked the trend.
"This is an ethno-nationalistic movement, not an international jihadist movement. They do not believe in a global caliphate. Their struggle is local," said Don Pathan, an independent Thai analyst and columnist for BenarNews.
Apart from BRN's struggle and the moderate brand of Islam practiced by Muslims in southern Thailand, the cultural narrative was also an important factor, he pointed out.
"I will place equal importance to the cultural and historical narrative of the Pattani people that served as a natural barrier against extremist ideas or Salafi-leaning extremist ideas from coming in," Pathan told BenarNews.
"Basically that narrative is – Pattani is a land of the Malay people, they have their own history, myths, fairy tales, which separate them from the Thai state's constructed narrative," Pathan said.
Past attempts by other extremist groups including Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), the al-Qaeda affiliate in Southeast Asia, to recruit Pattani Malays had also failed, he noted.
"When JI was really hot In Southeast Asia after the Bali bombing in 2002, they (Pattani Malays) could have joined JI but they didn't," he said.
Wanted in Malaysia
While no Pattani Malay is known to have traveled to Syria, at least one is believed to have been influenced by IS, according to officials in Malaysia, which shares a border with the Thai Deep South.
In April last year, Malaysian police placed a southern Thai national, Awae Wae-Eya, 37, on the wanted list for allegedly planning terror attacks in Malaysia's Johor state. He is believed to have had contacts with IS in Syria back then.
Malaysian police said Awae and three other IS-linked suspects were involved in a plot to kidnap and murder police officers, as well as attack on non-Muslim places of worship.
Thai authorities, who briefly detained and released Awae after questioning him in April 2018, dismissed the Malaysian allegations that he had ties to IS.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

[https://www]

BenarNews

This chart summarizes voting results released by the Election Commission on Thursday accounting for 100 percent of votes cast in the March 24 parliamentary election.
Voters cast ballots for 350 out of 500 lower house seats, while 150 so-called party-list seats (based on a mathematical formula devised by the commission that credits parties for total votes received) are to be allocated in May. Several parties that were not elected to seats in parliament's lower house are likely to qualify for party-list seats.
The junta has not announced the names of the 250 handpicked senators.
The prime minister will be named by the party or coalition that has at least 376 seats – one more than half the lower house and senate combined.



* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha set a seven-day deadline for temporarily easing air pollution in northern Thailand, as he traveled to Chiang Mai on Tuesday to get a close-up look at a smog blanketing the region.
Arriving by helicopter at Fort Kawila in Chiang Mai, Prayuth spoke to officials and civilian volunteers who were fighting agricultural fires that had been burning for weeks and whose smoke created the smog.
"Today, I order (officials) to improve the situation in seven days as a short-term measure," Prayuth said as he delivered tools and face masks to fire fighters at the fort.
"These troubles need time to solve because these largely stem from man-made fires along with other causes. So we need to make those who set fires to clear farmland understand this," Prayuth said without detailing potential long-term solutions.
At its peak on Saturday, fine particles measured 700 micrograms per cubic meter of air, far worse than the country's safety level of 50, according to government officials and the Air Quality Index, a website that measures air pollution worldwide.
The Thai military deployed helicopters to dump huge buckets of water on hotspots while planes seeded clouds to produce rain for deterring the air pollution, which can lead to health issues including rashes, dizziness and even death. On the ground, firefighters armed with hoes and shovels worked to contain the blazes.
Chiang Mai Gov. Supachai Iamsuwan responded to Prayuth's order, according to a report in the Singapore-based Straits Times newspaper.
"We will ramp up all operations and solve the problem within seven days. We will go down to the smallest (fire) in the villages," he said.
Many of the fires have been blamed on farmers burning corn and sugar cane fields following the harvest so the land can be planted again during the next growing season, according to officials.
Prayuth said "hot spots" in the region had been reduced from 3,000 to 1,900 by Tuesday.
"The wildfires are relatively more serious this year because of the heat," Thanakrit Chanthajamrassilpa, district chief of Mae Sariang in Mae Hong Son, told reporters. "Once they broke out they were even more severe because of abundant flammable substances."
 
'Much worse this year'
By Tuesday, fine particles measured 260 micrograms per cubic meter in Mae Hong Son province, west of Chiang Mai, followed by Chiang Rai at 165 and Chiang Mai at 147 – still above the country's safety level, according to the World Air Quality Index.
All three locations are top Thai tourist destinations.
The pollution has taken its toll, a village official near Chiang Dao Cave in Chiang Mai told BenarNews
"It has affected tourism. Many locals did not earn income because no tourists came," Kamron Inta said. "What we want from the government are wildfire funds, fire walls and vigilant teams."
In downtown Chiang Mai, residents held signs "Stop Burning! The smog problem affects our health," and called on Prayuth to declared Chiang Mai a disaster area and ban corn farming over 1.58 million acres.
"The smog is much worse this year than last year. It is a good opportunity for the prime minister to see it for himself and take it seriously," Chiang Mai resident Nathika Prakobboon said. "I hope we don't face this again next year."
Nikom Putta, president of the Ping River Basin Conservation Group, called on the government to be more involved.
"I think the government must solve the problem by educating locals to make them feel they own the forest," he told BenarNews.
"For those who grow corn, the government should find them an alternative option to stay away from burning. We must blame food companies who benefit from them and have them help solve the problem, too," he said.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

The top two leaders of an anti-junta political party said Wednesday that Thai police had summoned them for individual questioning over separate criminal allegations.
Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, who heads the Future Forward Party (FFP) and ran as its prime ministerial candidate in the March 24 general election, described a summons from police to question him about his alleged role in helping suspects escape in 2015 as politically motivated.
He revealed the summons letter in a Facebook post on Wednesday. The party's secretary general, meanwhile, posted a similar summons letter that he had received to be questioned over contempt of court and computer-crimes charges.
"It is apparent that the same old political game doesn't end at the end of elections, but it is intensified," Thanathorn said. "Just because they fear the Future Forward Party, fear its unexpected triumph, fear the party with the policy and ideology which gained followers without using money or influence.
"I will go meet the police to prove my innocence, to prove that the nation's justice won't yield to the dictatorship," he said.
BenarNews could not immediately confirm with police that they had summoned Thanathorn and Piyabutr Saengkanokkul, Future Forward's secretary general, for questioning.
Future Forward won 30 directly elected parliamentary seats in last month's polls, the first held in Thailand since the military seized power through a coup five years ago.
The party led by Thanathorn, the 40-year-old scion of a Thai auto parts company, was among seven parties that formed a pro-democracy alliance last week in the aftermath of the election, whose final outcome has yet to be officially resolved.
The alliance is headed by Pheu Thai, a party linked with deposed and exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Pheu Thai won the biggest number of directly elected seats in parliament's lower house – 137 out of 350 contested seats – according to results released by the Election Commission.
The pro-junta Palang Pracharat Party won 97 elected seats, but boasted that it had won the popular vote by drawing at least 8.4 million votes, according to official full results of ballots counted.
'Old cases'
Thanathorn said he was scheduled to meet with police in Pathumwan, a district in Bangkok, on Saturday. He could face a charge of sedition, which carries a maximum seven-year sentence, and aiding criminals, which carries a maximum two-year sentence.
The charges against Thanathorn stemmed from a rally at Pathumwan police station on June 24, 2015, Col. Burin Thongprapai, legal adviser for the military government, told Thai media on Wednesday. On that day in 2015, eight students who had been involved in anti-junta activities a month earlier, were scheduled to report to police but surrounded the station instead.
He said Thanathorn had used his mother's van to help the student activists escape.
A senior police official denied that move to summons Thanathorn was political.
"These are the old cases," Deputy National Police Chief Gen. Srivarah Rangsipramanakul told a Thai news channel. "The case proceeded slowly because of changes in supervisors."
Piyabutr, for his part, said he had received a police summons to be questioned for his role in criticism leveled by his party after a court disbanded the opposition Thai Raksa Chart Party weeks before the vote.
Piyabutr, who postponed his scheduled appearance before police on Wednesday, posted the summons letter on Facebook. The letter stated that the culprit was the owner of the party's website but did not specify a charge against Piyabutr, calling him a "witness."
Burin said the government sought to punish Piyabutr for contempt of court and violations of the Computer Crimes Act that carry penalties of up to seven years and five years in prison.
After the Thai Raksa Chart Party was ordered disbanded on March 7 because it had nominated Princess Ubolratana as its candidate for prime minister, the Future Forward Party issued a critical statement.
"The judicial system has been abused as a political tool for over a decade. It doesn't help in reducing political tension but raises the question on power abuse," according to an excerpt.
Threats against pro-democracy activists
Also on Wednesday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on Thai authorities to investigate alleged threats and attacks against a Thai political activist, Ekachai Hongkangwan, and other pro-democracy activists.
HRW said arsonists had torched his car early Monday, hours after he led a protest calling for members of the Election Commission to be impeached for allegedly helping Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha to retain power through the election. The results of the election have not been finalized.
"The environment for Thailand's pro-democracy activists appears to be taking a turn for the worse," said Brad Adams, HRW's Asia director. "It's crucial for Thai authorities to fully investigate these incidents, bring the attackers to justice, and act promptly to end the deepening climate of fear."


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

Suspected rebels shot dead two border patrol policemen at a mosque in Thailand's troubled Deep South on Friday, authorities said of the first deadly attack to strike the region in five weeks.

Four gunmen entered the Ban Mayo Mosque in Than To, a district of Yala province, at around 1 p.m. and opened fire on the officers as they were attending a Friday sermon, officials said. The suspects fled after shooting the pair, identified as Police Lt. Capt. Adul Rakpras and Police Maj. Capt. Waeromlee Waehama, who died at the scene.

"[T]he two policemen from the 44th Border Patrol Bureau were listening to religious teachings, as four gunmen sneaked into the premises from the back door, shooting and killing them on the spot," Lt. Capt. Polakorn Srichai, an investigator at the Than To police station, told reporters, adding it was highly likely that the killers were separatist insurgents. 

A local resident said he suspected that members of Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), the largest and most heavily armed of insurgent groups in the predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking Deep South, were responsible for Friday's killings.
"I believe the culprits are BRN militants who were forced to cross into Thailand back from Malaysia," the resident of Mayo village told BenarNews on condition of anonymity, citing concerns for his own safety.

"Local residents here cannot accept such brutality because letting blood in the mosque of Allah is gravely wrong. We all condemn such attacks." 

A Muslim cleric in Pattani, another province in the Deep South, also deplored the killings.

"It is an act of evil and it is gravely wrong, in this life and the next," Imam Sakariya Galeng told BenarNews, adding it was considered a sin in Islam to kill people inside a mosque.

The attack was the second deadly one targeting a place of worship or holy site in Thailand's restive southern border region this year. On Jan. 18, two Buddhist monks were shot dead by suspected insurgents at their monastery in Su-ngai Padee district, Narathiwat province, police said. 

Friday's killings were the first to claim the lives of policemen in the region since Feb. 27. On that day, eight masked gunmen abducted two officers from a teashop in Narathiwat's Cho I-rong district and then shot them dead some 200 yards away, according to authorities.

Nearly 7,000 people have died in violence in the Deep South since the BRN reignited its decades-old separatist rebellion in January 2004. Efforts by Thailand's military government to engage various southern rebels in Malaysia-brokered peace talks since 2015 so far have yielded no breakthroughs.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

Thailand's foreign minister on Tuesday warned diplomats from other countries to not interfere with the judicial system after representatives from several embassies showed up at a police station as an opposition leader responded to a summons.
Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai questioned the diplomats' presence at the Pathumwan police station in Bangkok on Saturday to observe the case of Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, leader of the Future Forward Party (FFP), who was charged then with sedition and other alleged offenses.
Don called it a breach of diplomatic protocol and interference with the Thai judiciary.
"This thing cannot happen in their countries, but it happened in our country. We need to ask them and seek cooperation to not let this happen again because it is wrong under diplomatic protocol," Don told reporters in Bangkok.
He said he planned to send letters to or summon representatives to express the Thai government's displeasure over their actions.
"An embassy can get involved in the judiciary only if its citizens have trouble in our country, which is the international norm," he said. "If not, no country allows it. Simply put, no one does that, [it is] interference [with] the judiciary."
Thanathorn, 40, the scion of a Thai auto parts company, served as the FFP's candidate for prime minister in last month's general election. The party was among seven that formed a pro-democracy alliance in the aftermath of the March 24 polls, whose final outcome has yet to be resolved officially. The election was the first in Thailand since the military seized power in a coup in May 2014.
Representatives of several nations including the United States, along with the European Union (E.U.) and U.N. human rights officials, met Thanathorn outside the police station Saturday, according to press reports and Thanathorn's supporters. Pictures of the gathering circulated widely on social media and in local and international media.
On Tuesday, the U.S. embassy and the E.U. office in Thailand did not immediately reply to BenarNews requests for comment. In addition, representatives from Australia, Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Great Britain, who were at the police station, according to media reports, have not commented on social media sites or elsewhere.
A spokeswoman for FFP questioned the foreign minister's statement.
"Mr. Don's remark is of concern because it is impossible for diplomats to not know the protocol or about being discrete," Pannika Wanich said. "It is of concern given that he is a foreign minister."
She said the diplomats who showed up at the police station had a good relationship with FFP and had sought the party's permission to observe the case.
Charges
Thanathorn was charged on Saturday with sedition, aiding criminals and taking part in a political gathering of at least 10 people four years ago.
The charges stemmed from a rally at Pathumwan police station on June 24, 2015, Col. Burin Thongprapai, legal adviser for the government, told Thai media last week. On that day, eight students who had been involved in anti-junta activities a month earlier were scheduled to report to police but they and supporters surrounded the station instead.
Burin said Thanathorn used his mother's van to help the activists escape.
At the time of the incident, the military government, led by Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha, had outlawed political gatherings of 10 or more people. Prayuth, who was appointed prime minister after leading a military overthrow of Yingluck Shinawatra's civilian government in 2014 and is himself a candidate for prime minister, lifted the restriction prior to last month's election.
Thanathorn likely will stand trial in a military court because the incident occurred during the time when the government allowed military courts to hear security-related cases, according to the police. He said he planned to submit his response to the summons by May 15.
On Tuesday, Thanathorn's lawyer said the case was not affecting his client's short-term political efforts.
"As far as I know, the case would not take effect until after the election results are final," attorney Krisadang Nuchjarus told BenarNews by phone.
FFP won 30 of 350 parliamentary seats contested in the March 24 election and could receive another 50 to 58 of the 150 party-list seats awarded using a mathematical formula tied to the total vote count, according to observers.
Prayuth, meanwhile, said he was not sure that the people who gathered at the police station on Saturday were envoys or other representatives from those countries.
"But I have told the foreign ministry to contact the respective embassies," Prayuth told reporters after a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
"I don't want this issue to cause conflict because we live on the same globe," he said while pointing out the need to follow the law. "Most of all, we follow Thai constitution and Thai laws."


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

After the Thai foreign minister criticized officials from other countries for showing up at a Bangkok police station as an opposition leader answered a summons, the American embassy and European Union mission responded Wednesday by saying it was standard diplomatic practice to send observers. 

Don Pramudwinai, the foreign minister of Thailand's military government, had lashed out Tuesday at various foreign embassies for dispatching observers to watch while Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, leader of the Future Forward Party, arrived at the Pathumwan police station on Saturday where he was charged with sedition and other alleged offenses.

Don accused the foreign missions of breaching diplomatic protocol and interfering with Thailand's judiciary system.
"The U.S. Embassy regularly attends court proceedings in high profile cases around the world in order to observe fair trial guarantees and respect for rule of law," embassy spokeswoman Jillian Bonnardeaux told BenarNews.

"This is a standard diplomatic practice. The U.S. interest in this case, as in many other cases, is to observe the judicial process and obtain first-hand information about the handling of the case," she said, noting that embassy's charge d'affaires had attended a meeting with a senior official from the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs earlier on Wednesday "regarding the court proceedings on April 6."

The meeting was convened at the ministry's request, she said.

Officials representing several nations including the United States, as well as the European Union (E.U.) and United Nations human rights officials, met Thanathorn outside the police station, according to press reports and Thanathorn's supporters. Diplomats from Australia, Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Great Britain were also present at the police station, according to reports.

The Future Forward Party leader was charged with sedition, aiding criminals and taking part in a political gathering of at least 10 people four years ago, when the Thailand's junta had outlawed large assemblies of a political nature, officials said.

Thanathorn's party, which is popular with young voters, won 30 of 350 parliamentary seats that were contested in the March 24 general election, whose final and complete results have yet to be made official. The polls marked the first election in Thailand since the military seized power in a May 2014 coup. 

On Wednesday, a spokesperson for the Delegation of the European Union to Thailand also confirmed that it sent a representative to observe "the hearing of charges against Mr Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit at Pathumwan police station in Bangkok on 6 April 2019." 

"Observation of hearings and trials is standard diplomatic practice worldwide. Its purpose is to enhance understanding of adherence to international standards such as human rights and due process," the spokesperson said.

"Such observations are in no way indications of political preference or support for specific actors," the E.U. official added, noting that the delegation also expressed its gratitude to Thai police for co-operating "in facilitating the observation and for offering to brief the diplomats present." 

Busadee Santipitaks, director general of the Thai foreign ministry's information department, meanwhile confirmed that its deputy permanent secretary, who is responsible for handling relations with foreign missions, met Wednesday with officials from the U.S., E.U., France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Finland and Belgium.
The deputy permanent secretary conveyed to them the ministry's "disappointment and worries about the presence of representatives of foreign embassies at the Pathumwan police station" as Thanathorn responded to the summons over the weekend, Busadee said in a statement. 

The foreign presence there in particular "created an image that can be interpreted as encouraging to Thanathorn and taking sides in the Thai political context," the ministry's spokeswoman said, alleging that the showing had breached diplomatic practices and interfered with Thai internal affairs. 

"Therefore [we] asked the embassies to take steps to prevent this from happening again," Busadee added.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

A leader of a new Thai political party that drew the third most votes in last month's general election appeared at a police station Wednesday to acknowledge two criminal charges filed against him by the military government.
Piyabutr Saengkanokkul, secretary-general of the youth-backed Future Forward Party (FFP), denied the two allegations when he reported to the police's Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD) on the outskirts of Bangkok.
"All charges filed (against me) are politically motivated," Piyabutr told reporters as dozens of supporters swarmed around him.
He was the second top leader of the party, next to FFP chairman Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, to be charged by police this month. Piyabutr's charges stemmed from a video clip of him criticizing an order by the Constitutional Court to dissolve another opposition party, the Thai Raksa Chart Party, after it nominated a princess as a candidate for prime minister in March.
"For the sake of check-and-balance principle, people who own the sovereignty should be able to criticize them," he said, referring to the court.
Col. Burin Thongprapai, legal adviser for the military government, filed a complaint against Piyabutr, accusing him of insulting the court and breaching the nation's Computer Crimes Act.
If found guilty on both charges, Piyabutr could face up to 12 years in prison.
Piyabutr has until April 25 to submit his statement in writing before the TCSD would decide whether to press on with the case, police Col. Siriwat Deepo, the division's deputy superintendent, told reporters.
Earlier this month, Future Forward leader Thanathorn faced charges of sedition at the same police station. Police alleged that he had violated a ban on public gatherings that was in force at the time when he aided one of the leaders of an anti-junta rally in 2015. He denied the allegations.
Last month, the Constitutional Court ordered the disbanding of the Thai Raksa Chart, a party allied with deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, after it had nominated Princess Ubolratana as its candidate for prime minister.
The previously unheard-of move quickly backfired after the Thai King issued a statement calling the nomination "extremely inappropriate."
After the court handed down its ruling, the Future Forward Party issued a statement, saying the judicial system had been "abused as a political tool."
On Wednesday, Piyabutr's lawyer, Krisadang Nuchjarus, questioned why Thailand's military government had filed a complaint and whether attorneys for the Constitutional Court felt insulted by the FFP's statement.
"It is doubtful why the NCPO sued him," he said, using the acronym for the National Council for Peace and Order, the official name of the junta. "I wonder if the court feels they were defamed at all."
The public prosecutor and the court must give Piyabutr a fair treatment, a national human rights commissioner told BenarNews on Wednesday.
"The police investigators take complaints but the public prosecutors and courts must weigh in the accusation by the NCPO to ensure justice for people," said Angkhana Neelapaijit, a member of the National Human Rights Commission, who was present when Piyabutr appeared at the police station.
Last week, the Thai Foreign Ministry summoned more than a dozen foreign diplomats after the junta accused them of "breaching protocol" by attending the filing of charges against Thanathorn on April 6.
There were no representatives from foreign embassies present to observe the procedure on Wednesday, a TCSD officer said.
The one-year-old FFP won 30 of 350 parliamentary seats contested in the March 24 election, and could receive another 50 to 58 of the 150 party-list seats awarded using a mathematical formula tied to the total vote count, according to political observers.
Future Forward received 6.2 million votes cast for the 350 parliamentary seats, placing third behind the opposition Pheu Thai Party (7.9 million votes) and the junta-aligned Palang Pracharat Party (8.4 million votes), according to a tally of votes released by the Election Commission in late March.
Under Thailand's electoral law, a criminal conviction could lead to election disqualification for Thanathorn, but his lawyer, Krisadang Nutcharut, told BenarNews last week that the case would not affect his short-term political goals.
"As far as I know, the case would not take effect until after the election results are final," he said.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

A court in Thailand sentenced a senior Buddhist monk to 26 years in prison Thursday after finding him guilty of money laundering when he and another monk embezzled almost U.S. $1 million of government funds that they claimed were earmarked for temples in the Deep South.
The conviction took place eight months after another court ordered a former jet-setting member of Thailand's Buddhist clergy to serve 114 years in prison for fraud, money laundering and computer crimes.
Monk Kitti Patcharakun, 55, the former abbot of Lad Kae Temple in northern Petchaboon province, arrived at the Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases in Bangkok on Thursday, but was defrocked and sent to a remand house in the Thai capital after being sentenced, pending an appeal.
"The defendant was found guilty of violation of the 1999 Anti-Money Laundering Act on 13 counts," according to court documents. "He is sentenced to three years for each count, but the jail term is reduced to 26 years because the defendant cooperated during hearings."
Kitti (alias Somkiat Khanthong) did not talk to the media but his lawyer told reporters he had requested bail and would file an appeal.
Prosecutors said Kitti and the former director of the National Buddhism Office (NBO), Nopparat Benjawatananan, siphoned off 28 million baht (U.S. $903,225) by collaborating and falsifying projects for 12 temples in four provinces.
The temples did not request funds from the Buddhist Office and received a minuscule amount, prosecutors alleged in the court documents.
Kitti and Nopparat claimed that the funds would be used for religious projects, including for temples in the Deep South, prosecutors said.
The court indicted Kitti in February last year but Nopparat fled the country during the investigation process.
Thailand has more than 61,000 monks and about 80 percent of the nation's 69 million people are Buddhists, who generally make donations believing that offering alms to monks secures them good karma in this life and the next.
Last year, about 200 police commandos raided several temples in Bangkok, arresting several monks accused of involvement in a scam in which millions of baht (dollars) of temple funds were allegedly embezzled.
At least six senior monks, a few civilians and other former NBO officials have been remanded for hearings.
In August last year, a court sentenced Wirapol Sukphol to 114 years in prison also for money laundering, among other charges.
Wirapol, 39, provoked outrage in 2013 when a YouTube video showed him wearing designer sunglasses in a private jet with a Louis Vuitton carry-on luggage by his side. As a result of the controversy, Wirapol was defrocked. He was also accused of raping an underage girl and allegedly had sexual relations with several women.
While Buddhist monks have taken vows of celibacy and promised to live modest lives, modernization has creeped in, eroding such principles, a worshipper told BenarNews.
"The problem is that materialism causes some monks and supporters to become materialists as opposed to true Buddhists," said Kasana Lajarochana, an engineer and a Buddhist devotee. "We need harsher punishment and efficient enforcement to deter bad people."


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

Thailand, China and Laos will sign a memorandum of cooperation on a new bridge for a railway across the Mekong River during Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha's Beijing visit this week, a Thai foreign ministry official said Tuesday.
The bridge would link Thailand's northeastern Nong Khai province with the Laotian capital Vientiane, Thai officials told BenarNews, in what analysts believe will reinforce China's ambitions to build a high-speed railway network in Southeast Asia, stretching through Malaysia and feeding into Singapore.
Prayuth, who is scheduled to be in the Chinese capital on April 26-27, is expected to sign the trilateral pact on the sidelines of a conference of world leaders on China's massive One Belt, One Road (OBOR) infrastructure initiative, Busadee Santipitaks, spokeswoman for the ministry of foreign affairs, told BenarNews.
"Thailand, Laos PDR and China will sign a three-nation memorandum of cooperation to build a bridge for a high-speed railway at Thai-Lao border," Busadee said.
Thai officials did not respond to BenarNews emails requesting more details on the memorandum.
China, which aims to increase its footprint in Southeast Asia through OBOR, has managed to push ahead with its strategy to build a trans-Asian railway network.
Last month, Laotian officials announced that a 414-km (257-mile) high-speed railway linking Vientiane with Kunming city, capital of China's southwestern province of Yunnan, was almost half-complete and on track to be in service by December 2021. Construction for that project began four years ago.
Under China's planned 3,000-km (1,875-mile) pan-Asian railway network, Chinese rail lines will extend farther south – all the way to the tip of the Malay Peninsula, linking Beijing to Singapore, one of Washington's closest allies in the region and a strategic gateway to the Strait of Malacca.
China's OBOR initiative has drawn criticism, including from Malaysian leader Mahathir Mohamad, who told reporters last month that the Philippines should be wary of Beijing's "debt-trap diplomacy" that includes extending excessive credit with the alleged intention of extracting economic or political concessions from the debtor country.
Economists contend that the initiative forces emerging economies to take on unsustainable levels of debt to fund Beijing-backed projects, highlighting such concerns after a Chinese state-owned company took over the majority stake in Sri Lanka's Hambantota port after Colombo struggled to repay its loans from China.
Thailand officially kicked off its high-speed railway project in December 2017 when Prayuth and Chinese officials led a ground-breaking ceremony for a 3.5-km (2-mile) segment of the rail in the northeast province of Nakhon Ratchasima.
The junta-led government under Prayuth has approved a 179-billion baht (U.S. $5.8 billion) budget for the first phase of the 253-km (158-mile) railway linking Nakhon Ratchasima with Bangkok.
The second phase linking Nakhon Ratchasima to Laos is awaiting approval, officials told BenarNews.
OBOR, Chinese President Xi Jinping's signature policy, is an estimated U.S. $1 trillion-plus initiative that stretches across 70 countries. It aims to weave a network of railways, ports and bridges, linking China with Africa, Europe and Southeast Asia.
Prayuth's Beijing visit would include a roundtable meeting with leaders of 38 countries during which he is expected to express the commitment of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to support China's OBOR projects, Thai government spokesman Lt. Gen. Weerachon Sukhonthapatipak told BenarNews.
"First, we stress Thailand's role as the ASEAN chair in supporting and committing to China's attempt to link sub-regions and regions," he said.
Prayuth, as current chairman of the 10-member ASEAN, will meet Xi and other Chinese officials, including Prime Minister Li Kequiang and Deputy Prime Minister Han Zheng to discuss ways to bolster bilateral relationship and economic cooperation, Weerachon said.
Prayuth will be accompanied by his deputy, Somkid Jatusripitak, the minister of transport and the minister of foreign affairs, he said.
China has ranked as Thailand's largest trading partner since 2012, buying about U.S. $30 billion of Thai products last year, according to the Thai Ministry of Commerce.
Respect human rights, HRW tells Beijing
Meanwhile, in a statement issued on Sunday, New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged Beijing to ensure that the OBOR initiative would be respectful of the human rights of people living in areas near the infrastructure projects.
Under OBOR, Beijing should set out requirements to enable consultation with groups of people potentially affected by proposed projects, ensuring that affected communities can openly express their views without fear of reprisal, HRW said in a statement.
"Beijing claims it is committed to working with other countries to foster environment-friendly and sound development, but the practice so far has raised some serious concerns," said Yaqui Wang, HRW's China researcher.
"Criticisms of some Belt and Road projects – such as lack of transparency, disregard of community concerns, and threats of environmental degradation – suggest a superficial commitment," Wang said.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

Three people, including the son of an alleged police informant killed by militants two years ago, were shot to death and two women were injured Thursday in three separate attacks in the insurgent-wrecked Deep South, according to police officials.
The attack came a day after Peter Haymond, the chargė d'affairs for the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok, made his first trip to a university campus in Pattani, where he told reporters he wished the region's warring factions could stop the violence.
Police said the first shooting occurred Thursday morning in Ban Sanambin village in Yala, when Amri Kuteh, 36, was riding back home on his motorcycle after working as a rubber tapper.
"At least two gunmen riding on a motorcycle flanked Amri and shot him with a 9 mm pistol into the head and he fell to the ground," said Lt. Capt. Nattawut Petchsatit, an investigator at Bunnang Sata police station.
A police official who requested anonymity told BenarNews that Amri's father was a high-profile police informant who was killed in a bomb and gun attack two years ago.
"Amri is the son of Ahamakuding Kuteh, who helped police hunt down many insurgents. I believe the insurgents carried out the attack in order to exact revenge against his father," the official said.
The second attack occurred before dusk when Pathompong Kaewthong, a soldier, was shot in the head as he rode on a motorcycle with his wife in Saiburi, a district in Pattani, police said. He was pronounced dead at Kapo Hospital while his wife survived a bullet wound to her leg, a hospital official said.
A few minutes later at a marketplace in Yarang, another district in Pattani, gunmen opened fire on an ice cream vendor, killing him and injuring another woman, police said, adding that the attackers managed to escape.
No one, including Thailand's most powerful insurgent group Barisan Revolusi Nasional, has claimed responsibility for any of Thursday's attacks.
Since the beginning of the year, at least 44 people have died in the Deep South and at least 48 more were injured in violent attacks, according official reports obtained by BenarNews.
About 7,000 people were killed since the violence reignited in Muslim-dominant Malay speaking region in 2004.
The Thai government has unsuccessfully attempted to negotiate a peace settlement with the insurgent umbrella group MARA Patani since 2013.
Haymond, who visited the campus of Prince of Songkla University in Pattani province on Wednesday, said U.S. officials would like to conduct projects to support young Muslims in the region.
"I hope when there is a new government, the negotiating partners succeed for the benefit of the Deep South and elsewhere," Haymond told reporters.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn married his royal consort Wednesday then announced that she was the queen, in a surprise move just days before his elaborate coronation in Bangkok.
Suthida Vajiralongkorn Na Ayudhya, 40, is now Queen Suthida after she became the 66-year-old monarch's fourth wife.
A statement from the palace said the king performed a royal wedding ceremony and "decided to promote" Suthida to become a queen. It did not provide details.
"General Suthida Vajiralongkorn Na Ayudhya is bestowed queenship," said the statement published in the Royal Gazette.
The Bangkok Post published photos of the king in a white uniform and Queen Suthida signing marriage registration papers at the Dusit Palace, his official residence in the Thai capital. The photos were distributed to the media by the Royal Household Bureau.
Thai television also broadcast the royal order and showed a video of the new queen, in a shimmering pink silk dress, prostrating herself before the monarch. She presented a tray of flowers to the king, who also handed her traditional gifts associated with the royal family.
The Gazette announcement confirmed the couple's relationship.
Consort promoted to general
Previous local reports had speculated about the king's romantic links with Suthida, a former flight attendant for Thai Airways.
The Thai public knows little personal information about Suthida, who was born on June 3, 1978. According to local news reports, she holds a bachelor's degree in mass communications from Assumption University of Thailand (formerly known as Assumption Business Administration College) in central Samut Prakan province.
In 2014, then-Prince Vajiralongkorn appointed her as deputy commander of his security unit, further promoting her to full general about two years later. He later bestowed her with the royal title Thanpuying, which means Lady.
The king, who has five sons and two daughters from his previous marriages, has spent much of his adult life in Germany. He divorced his previous wife, with whom he has a son, in 2014.
Vajiralongkorn, also known by the official title King Rama X, became constitutional monarch in October 2016 after the death of his father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who was on the throne for seven decades.
Vajiralongkorn's colorful life has been shielded from media scrutiny because of Thailand's strict Lese-Majeste laws, which provide harsh punishment for comments deemed offensive to the monarch and members of the royal family.
Thailand, which has been a constitutional monarchy since 1932, regards the king as the spiritual protector of its people and culture.
Since seizing power through a coup in May 2014, a military government has cracked down on Thais violating Lese-Majeste, filing charges against at least 83 people, in cases that mostly stemmed from social-media postings, legal sources said.
Coronation
King Vajiralongkorn's coronation will take place over three days of elaborate ceremonies, from May 4-6, in the nation's capital, with many Buddhist and Brahmin rituals performed in the month leading up to the event.
Vajiralongkorn returned to Thailand in 2016 when his father's health began to falter.
A law that went into effect in July 2017 gave him sole authority over the Crown Property Bureau, which oversees the monarchy's land holdings and assets. In 2011, Forbes magazine estimated the Royal Family's net worth at $30 billion and a Business Insidermagazine report described him as the world's richest monarch.
In unusually candid interviews with U.S. reporters during a visit to the United States in 1981, Vajiralongkorn's mother, Queen Sirikit, publicly criticized him, telling the Dallas Times Herald that her son was "a little bit of a Don Juan."
Vajiralongkorn was married in 1977 to Princess Sujarinee with whom he has five children. That same year, he also married Princess Soamsawali, who bore him a daughter. Years later, he also married Princess Srirasami with whom he has a son. BenarNews could not immediately confirm when and where his divorce in those marriages took place.
"He is a good student, a good boy, but women find him interesting and he finds women even more interesting," Queen Sirikit told the Herald, referring to her son.
"So his family life is not so smooth," she said.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

Thailand finally crowns its new king this weekend, two-and-a-half years after the death of a revered former monarch and almost 70 years since the kingdom's last coronation.
The lavish three-day ceremony formally instituting the reign of King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun, or King Rama X, comes as Thais await results of a recent election and their next prime minister.
The gap between the start of the new king's reign and his coronation was due in part to a long period of mourning for the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej after his seven-decade reign, authorities had said. His son and heir, Vajiralongkorn, paid homage at monuments to former Thai rulers Thursday, in preparation for ceremonies to mark his crowning.
The coronation and associated events since early April will cost the government at least 1 billion baht (U.S. $31.2 million), officials said.
Thais say they are excited to witness the first coronation in decades, but are unlikely to voice many opinions about their new monarch, due to the kingdom's strict Lese-Majeste law that criminalizes royal defamation.
The junta that has ruled Thailand for five years has aggressively enforced that law, which makes it a crime to insult the king or the royal family.
The May 2014 coup was launched in part to ensure a smooth royal succession in the fading years of the late king's reign, according to analysts. The junta has prosecuted about 100 people on charges of violating Lese-Majeste, rights groups say.
Now, Thailand is ready to hold its first coronation since King Bhumibol Adulyadej officially took the throne 69 years ago, on May 5, 1950.
Accompanied by newly appointed Queen Suthida, Vajiralongkorn lit candles and joss-sticks late Thursday afternoon before presenting a flower offering to the spirit of King Chulalongkorn, his great-grandfather, in front of the Dusit Palace, their residence in Bangkok.
Later, the king and queen paid homage to King Phra Phutthayotfa Chulalok, the founder of the Chakri Dynasty who established Bangkok as the capital of the then-Kingdom of Siam in April 1782. Vajiralongkorn is the 10th monarch in the Chakri line.
Thais young and old expressed interest in the pageantry of the coronation.
"I feel excited because I have a chance to watch a broadcast to see such an amazing national-level ceremony," said Nang Ekkachote, 89, a native of Mahasarakan province in northeast Thailand. "During the coronation of King Bhumibol, we had no TV so I learned about it only from words of others."
A young woman in Bangkok said she too was eager to observe the historic ceremony.
"I really want to know what the ceremony looks like. I only know it is a tradition people talk about a lot," said Fa Jamraswej, 23. "I will try to observe the event myself along Rajadamnoen Street, to be part of the history."
Sacred water
Vajiralongkorn, 66, ascended the throne after Bhumibol died at the age of 88 on Oct. 13, 2016.
On Wednesday, the king announced his marriage – his fourth – and the appointment of the new queen. He has seven children from his first three wives.
In 2017, the government passed a law giving Vajiralongkorn sole authority over the Crown Property Bureau, which oversees the monarchy's lands and assets believed to be worth as much as U.S. $30 billion, according to Forbes magazine in 2011. Business Insidermagazine described him as the world's richest monarch.
Events leading up to the coronation, which starts on Saturday, began on April 6 as water was collected from 108 places across the nation and blessed by Buddhist monks in each of its 76 provinces.
On Friday, the day before the coronation ceremony, the government will hold a procession delivering the king's royal emblem and other paraphernalia to the Grand Palace.
Vajiralongkorn will worship before the Emerald Buddha image and the ashes of ancestral royals inside the vast compound. The Grand Palace, used for ceremonial events, is seen as an icon of the royal dynasty.
The actual coronation commences on Saturday when the king will be purified with sacred waters collected across the nation.
Later, the king will have water poured into his palms in an anointment ceremony while seated on the Octagonal Throne in the Grand Palace's Phaisan Thaksin Throne Hall. He will move to the Bhadarabhit Throne to be crowned.
He will travel to Wat Phra Si Rattana Satsadaram Temple and announce that he is the patron of Buddhism, worship the spirits of his ancestors, announce new ranks for members of the royalty and appear before the public.
Events during Sunday's program include a procession to three temples to pay respects to the Buddha and the king's ancestors' ashes. Thousands of people clad in yellow shirts, the symbol of supporters of the royalists, are expected line the route to observe the king pass by.
The government will have medical teams on standby to treat heat-related illnesses and other injuries. Accuweather predicted a high temperature of 96 degrees Fahrenheit (35 Celsius) on Sunday.
On Monday, the king will meet with religious leaders at Sudhai Sawan Hall, have an audience with foreign envoys at the Chakri Pavilion and then travel around Old Bangkok to meet citizens.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

Human rights activist Bach Hong Quyen has left Thailand for Canada, ending fears that he could be extradited to Vietnam for his role in helping a dissident Vietnamese blogger apply for asylum in Bangkok before Vietnamese agents abducted him.

Truong Duy Nhat, a contributor for Radio Free Asia (RFA), a BenarNews sister entity, disappeared in Bangkok in late January. Two months later, he was revealed to be in a Hanoi jail, in what legal experts said was a violation by Vietnam's police of the country's criminal procedure laws.

Quyen and his 6-month-old son Joseph boarded an airplane leaving Bangkok at 10:40 p.m. Thursday (local time), Do Ky Anh – a representative of the Voice Canada advocacy group – told RFA's Vietnamese Service.

"Quyen left Thailand at night on May 2 and will arrive in Mississauga city of Canada at around 9:30 in the morning of May 3," Anh said. He added that Quyen had spent about a week in an immigration detention center in accordance with Thai regulations that immigrants be held in detention before leaving for a third country.

Quyen had been approved for travel to Canada in a refugee program funded by the Canadian government, Voice Canada said in a press release, adding that Quyen's wife Bui Huong Giang and the couple's two daughters had already traveled to Canada under the same program on April 16.

Anh said he had no information regarding Quyen's possible extradition to Vietnam for having helped Nhat before the blogger's abduction, but said "We did have concerns about that."

"We heard that when Quyen was in the IDC [immigration detention center], a delegation from Vietnam visited the facility. I don't know why they were there, but we monitored Quyen's situation in the IDC very closely."

Thai immigration authorities have denied any knowledge of efforts to deport Quyen, who fled to Thailand in May 2017 after Vietnamese police issued a warrant for his arrest for organizing a march on the anniversary of a 2016 waste spill that that polluted the coast of central Vietnam.

The environmental disaster sparked major protests.

In a May 2 press release, Voice – a California-based organization supporting human rights and civil society in Vietnam – and its branch Voice Canada thanked the United Nations refugee agency, the Thai government, Human Rights Watch, and other groups for their help to Quyen and his family.

"After two years of efforts, and with the utmost help from individuals and organizations, we have succeeded in helping Quyen and his family reunite and settle down in Canada," the advocacy group said.

* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

A student activist arrested on a royal defamation charge two days after Maha Vajiralongkorn became Thailand's king was among several prisoners who received a pardon from the monarch on Friday, the eve of his official coronation, a government publication announced.
Jatupat "Pai" Boonpattararaksa, a student at Khon Kaen University, was arrested on Dec. 3, 2016, and charged under the Lese-Majeste law after posting on Facebook a BBC News biography of the new king that was deemed to be defamatory. The pardon was published in the official Royal Gazette on Friday, and confirmed by government officials as well as his mother.
"Pai is qualified to receive a royal pardon," Prim Boonpattararaksa, Jatupat's mother, told BenarNews on Friday. "Prison officials said they would prepare paper work for the consideration of the provincial governor, the prosecutor and the judges."
"He has been in good health but sometimes he had mental strain because his parole was refused," Prim said. "There is no justice, not from the beginning. We feel depressed."
Jatupat was the first person to be charged under the harsh royal defamation law during the reign of Vajiralongkorn, who succeeded his late father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, and will be crowned officially in a three-day ceremony starting Saturday.
Under Lese-Majeste law, one count of defaming, insulting or threatening members of the Thai royal family carries a penalty of three to 15 years in prison, but courts often reduce sentences after receiving guilty pleas.
Since the military seized power in a coup in May 2014, the junta has prosecuted about 100 people on charges of violating the royal defamation law by sharing – or even "liking" in at least one case – content on social media deemed as defamatory or insulting to the monarchy.
In mid-August 2017, a two-judge panel at Khon Khaen provincial court sentenced Jatupat to five years in prison. Later, the sentence was cut in half during a closed-door verdict session in which only his parents and lawyer were allowed access.
His lawyer, Krisdang Nuchjarus, said he anticipated Jatupat's release in no more than two weeks.
Prim said her son was given a 34-day reduction for good behavior. Despite the efforts to free Jatupat, she said he was treated unfairly because he deserved parole before the pardon was announced.
"Pai has 47 more days to go and if his reduction counts, he will be released by May 20 anyway," his mother said.
Hundreds posted BBC report
Jatupat was one of several hundred who shared the link to the BBC report, a profile of King Maha Vajiralongkorn that was published the same day he took the throne, Dec. 1, 2016. Police officials in Khon Khaen had said they planned to use Jatupat's case as a template to prosecute others for violating the law on social media but those arrests did not materialize.
Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun, also known as Rama X, the tenth monarch in the Chakri Dynasty, this weekend will become the first Thai king crowned in nearly seven decades. The 66-year-old inherited the throne from Bhumibol, who died in October 2016 at age 88, after ruling Thailand for 70 years.
On major events involving members of the royal family, the king often shows mercy by issuing royal pardons to qualified prisoners such as those who have less than three years remaining on their sentences, are first time prisoners or are 60 or older, according to the department of corrections.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

Thailand's Election Commission (EC) announced official results Tuesday of 350 parliamentary seats that were directly elected in March polls, but said 150 so-called party-list seats would be given after the Constitutional Court ruled on a formula used to calculate them.
The opposition won the largest number of seats by a comfortable margin but lost a seat after a candidate was disqualified, according to the official results. These results were only one seat different from unofficial results tallied by the commission after the March 24 general election, the first polls held since a military government came to power through a coup five years earlier.
"Ittiporn Boonprakong (EC chief), signed to endorse the results of 349 constituency MPs – except for one in Chiang Mai, which will have a reelection. Results will be announced in the Royal Gazette," EC Deputy Secretary-General Sawang Boonmee told reporters on Tuesday.
The reelection for the Chiang Mai seat is scheduled for May 26.
[https://www]
 
Despite the announcement, results remain murky two days before the law required that the elected and party-list MPs must be announced by Thursday. The formula used to apportion the party-list seats among contending parties remained up in the air, pending a court ruling.
"The Constitution Court will consider a judgment starting at 9 a.m. Wednesday," the court said in a message to the media after accepting the Ombudsman Office's request on May 2.
The EC, meanwhile, said it would convene at 10 a.m. Wednesday – one hour after the court – to discuss the matter.
The Constitutional Court had previously rejected an EC request to rule on whether the party-list formula was in line with Thai law, but the Ombudsman's Office, a theoretically independent body of the Thai government, subsequently called on the court to rule on the matter.
"The request doesn't meet criteria to seek Constitutional Court's judgment," it said on April 24, arguing there was no proof that the EC had performed its duty to calculate the party list MPs.
The EC said it sought the court's judgment to determine if the formula, which critics have said favors smaller parties, was valid. The EC devised a mathematical formula that credits parties for total votes received.
"To make sure the formula is right and is constitutional," the EC said in a media statement at the time.
"There is one formula for party-list MPs, which was designed by the constitutional drafting committee. There will be 27 parties gaining party-list MPs," Charungwit Poomma, the EC's secretary-general told the Thai Rath newspaper on April 29.
Senate
Meanwhile, 15 cabinet members have resigned in what observers said could be a move to allow the junta government of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha to hand-pick them for the 250-seat senate.
The 250 senators, along with the 350 elected and 150 party list members of the lower house of parliament will select the next prime minister, who needs the support of 376 members (one more than half of the 750 legislators) to form the government. Observers have pointed out that because they are appointed, the senate members likely will support Prayuth, giving him a head start to reaching 376.
Analysts said the 250 senators were to be announced within three days after the MPs were announced.
Concerns about party list
The opposition Pheu Thai Party, which won the most seats in the election's contested portion, challenged the EC, claiming the formula was biased toward the pro-junta Palang Pracharat Party.
Shortly after the March 24 vote, reports surfaced that Palang Pracharat Party, which won 39 fewer seats than the Pheu Thai Party, could make up much of the difference through the party-list selections.
"It is unconstitutional, no matter what. It favors a certain party and let it pull together those MPs to form a government," Tossaporn Serirak of the Pheu Thai Party told reporters in early April.
Titipol Phakdeewanich, the dean of the faculty of political science at Ubon Ratchathani University, said the EC needed to show no bias.
"The EC may have been pressured but as an independent body, it must stay neutral and hold up integrity and choose to support democracy," Titipol told BenarNews in a phone interview on Tuesday.
"Parties that gain a party-list MP should have at least 71,000 popular votes. The formula favors Palang Pracharat Party," Titipol said. "There is a tendency that smaller parties would join Palang Pracharat, and Prayuth will remain prime minister."


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

A party closely linked to Thailand's junta appeared positioned to lead a new government after electoral officials assigned remaining seats in parliament's lower house Wednesday, using a complex formula that opposition leaders slammed as unfair and illegal.
After the Constitutional Court approved the mathematical formula to award party-list seats, the Thai Election Commission (EC) later in the day announced official results for 149 of those seats that it allocated based on voting in the March 24 general election. There still was no outright winner but Wednesday's results gave the pro-junta Palang Pracharat Party (PPP) a clear edge in its bid to form the first government since the military seized power in a coup five years ago.
The 149 party-list seats were calculated based on the total vote and were awarded to 27 parties. The opposition Pheu Thai Party, which won 136 of the 350 contested parliamentary constituency races, did not pick up any of the additional seats.
PPP, which supports junta-leader turned Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha and received the most votes, benefitted from the formula, adding 18 seats to go with the 97 won on election day.
The EC said it was investigating complaints about the March 24 vote.
"At present, the Election Commission is in a process of considering more than 400 complaints, about 50 among those are related to qualifications. The EC has one year by law for electoral revocation or re-election if fault is found," said Sawang Boonmee, deputy Election Commission secretary-general.
To form a new government, a party must have majority support (at least 376 votes) from the 500 members of parliament and the 250 senate members who are to be hand-picked later this month by the junta government.
Because the senators are appointed by Prayuth's government, observers expect them to support the PPP, adding 250 to the party's 115 for a total of 365. On Wednesday, Reuters news service reported that parties aligned with PPP had seven seats, bringing the total to 372.
Parties holding large numbers of seats include: Pheu Thai, 136; Future Forward Party 80; the Democrat Party 52; and the Bhumjaithai Party, 51.
[https://www]
Complaints
The Pheu Thai Party, Thailand's largest opposition party, which is associated with deposed and exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, called the formula unconstitutional.
"The Pheu Thai Party sees the Election Commission's proceedings as deliberate actions and use of power in violations of the constitution and the (electoral) law," it said in a statement, according to Reuters.
The Future Forward Party, another party in the opposition, also objected to the EC's decision on the party-list seats.
"The EC exercises its power in a way costing seven MPs of Future Forward Party," said Piyabutr Saengkanokkul, the party's secretary-general, in a letter presented to the EC. "These people were affected by the EC, which performed its duty unconstitutionally."
Future Forward chief Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit told a news conference Wednesday that his party was prepared to negotiate with any party "that does not support Prayuth as a prime minister in order for our democracy to move forward," Agence France-Presse reported.
Analysts said the system made it difficult for the opposition parties to form a coalition to control more than half of the 500 parliamentary seats.
"When as many as 27 parties have seats, the parties in the democratic front find it harder to form a new government because they have less than 250 seats," Professor Anusorn Unno, dean of sociology and anthropology Thammasat University in Bangkok, told BenarNews on Wednesday.
Titipol Phakdeewanich, who heads the political science faculty at Ubon Ratchathani University, supported Anusorn's observation.
"Even if Pheu Thai Party can find 251 votes, it is not certain that it can find 376 votes in selecting prime minister," Titipol told BenarNews. "The roles of senators may entice small parties to join Palang Pracharat Party."
"Palang Pracharat stands a good chance of becoming the new government, but I reiterate here it is an illegitimate one," Titipol said.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

Thai authorities on Friday denied knowledge about the possible extradition from Vietnam of three critics of Thailand's monarchy and military junta, in response to claims from human rights groups that the men were being held in Bangkok.
The Vietnamese government returned Thai citizens Chucheep Chivasut, Siam Theerawut (alias Comrade Khaoneaw Mamuang), and Kritsana Thapthai (alias Comrade Young Blood) to Thailand on Wednesday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International (AI) said earlier Friday in separate statements. They based their information on reports from Thai media and a local NGO, the Thai Alliance for Human Rights.
The three had been arrested in Hanoi for illegal entry and using fake travel documents as they tried to flee persecution from Thai authorities, New York-based HRW said.
Thailand's deputy prime minister responded to the claims.
"No, I haven't seen any (official) reports. I heard from websites," Prawit Wongsuwan told reporters. "The confirmation must come from the Foreign Ministry and special branch of police."
BenarNews questioned Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Busadee Santipitaks about the trio.
"We have no knowledge," Busadee replied.
Officials with Special Branch and the police's Crime Suppression Division could not be immediately reached for comment.
The reported extradition of the three Thai dissidents occurred after Truong Duy Nhat, a blogger working for the Vietnamese Service of Radio Free Asia (RFA) – a BenarNews sister service –disappeared from a shopping mall near Bangkok in January. He had fled Vietnam in 2017 to escape arrest over his activism.
In late March, RFA's Vietnamese Service confirmed that agents from Hanoi had taken Nhat back to Vietnam. That fueled suspicions that Thai authorities had cooperated in his abduction. The blogger was now in a jail cell in the Vietnamese capital, Nhat's daughter told RFA.
Lese-Majeste allegation
Among the Thai dissidents, Chucheep Chivasut, better known as Lung (Uncle) Sanam Luang, is an avid supporter of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra who was deposed in a coup in 2006 but continues to exert influence on Thai politics while in exile.
A disc-jockey, Chucheep broadcast critical program against the military and the monarchy. He apparently fled to Laos after then-junta chief Prayuth Chan-o-cha toppled the government of Shinawatra's sister, Yingluck, in May 2014, and vowed to eradicate anti-monarchists.
Chucheep's program was last heard on Jan. 28, according to his YouTube channel record. Until then, he produced at least two broadcasts weekly.
"The Thai government should immediately disclose the whereabouts of three activists who were reportedly extradited from Hanoi to Bangkok," Human Rights Watch said. "Thai authorities have not acknowledged their arrest and detention, raising grave concerns that they have become victims of enforced disappearance."
Thai authorities previously accused the three of violating the kingdom's strict Lese-Majeste law that criminalizes royal defamation and carries a prison sentence of three to 15 years if convicted, according to HRW.
The men were accused, Human Rights Watch said, of broadcasting anti-monarchy radio programs over the internet and mobilizing supporters of Chucheep's Organization for Thai Federation to wear black T-shirts while demonstrating in Bangkok and other provinces.
"Both Thailand and Vietnam refused knowledge in the matter which usually end up with someone missing or dead," Sunai Phasuk, HRW senior Thai researcher told BenarNews on Friday, adding Thailand had signed the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.
The men's alleged extradition took place less than a week after Thailand officially crowned 66-year-old King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun (or Rama X), in an elaborate ceremony stretched over three days.
His coronation unfolded soon before the Election Commission unveiled the latest set of results from the March 24 general election that appeared to put a pro-junta party on the verge of forming the first government after five years of military rule.
Also on Friday, Amnesty International joined HRW's efforts to locate the three Thai activists.
"We call on Thai authorities to acknowledge whether they are in military or police custody and establish their whereabouts," said Minar Pimple, AI's senior director for global operations. "If they are in state custody, we urge authorities to ensure that the three men are held in an official place of detention and have immediate access to independent lawyers, doctors and family members.
"We also call on authorities to either charge them with a recognizable criminal offense in line with international standards or release them from custody, and not penalize them for their exercise of the right to freedom of expression," he said.
An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported that RFA had confirmed Thai authorities had cooperated in Nhat's abduction.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

A pro-junta party in Thailand obtained 11 more seats in parliament Monday, which could give it the 376 seats needed to form a government if all 250 senators appointed by the junta back the alliance.
Palang Pracharat Party (PPP), which vows to support Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha's bid to retain power, joined 11 smaller parties to announce an alliance to overcome the opposition led by the Pheu Thai Party.
"We are confident in and we reiterate that we will vote for Prayuth to be prime minister," Sampan Lertnuwat, leader of Polamuang Thai Party, told reporters in Bangkok. "We, 11 parties with 11 seats, want to see the new government take shape at the soonest possible time."
Prayuth assumed the role of prime minister after leading a military coup that overthrew the democratic government of Yingluck Shinawatra in May 2014. Pheu Thai Party supports Yingluck's brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, whose government was toppled in a similar coup in 2006.
The Election Commission (EC) last week officially endorsed results for 349 constituencies and 149 party-list seats.
The constituency parliamentarians won their seats in the March 24 elections while the party-list seats were filled by the election commission using a mathematical formula based on the total vote count. A seat remains open in both categories because a candidate was disqualified, forcing a revote later this month.
Pheu Tai won 136 seats outright while PPP picked up 115 through a combination of constituency election and party list. Both must seek partners to achieve a majority in parliament.
Other parties holding large numbers of seats include the Future Forward Party (80), the Democrat Party (52), and the Bhumjaithai Party (51), while 22 other parties also picked up seats.
The 350 elected and 150 party-list members of the lower house of parliament, as well as 250 junta-picked senators, are expected to select the next prime minister sometime around May 27, according to observers.
To form a new government, a party needs support of 376 members, one more than half of the 750 legislators.
The 11 parties joining forces with PPP would lead to 126 seats. As Prayuth's government picked the 250 senators, he is expected to get a solid bloc needed to reach 376. The nation's military-drafted 2017 constitution specifies that the senators and the members of parliament elect a new prime minister together.
"We are trying to form a government and still have time to talk to other parties," PPP leader Uttama Savanayana told reporters, without elaborating. "We respect them and know that they have internal process to follow."
Meanwhile, an official representing one of the 11 smaller parties told reporters that the Action Coalition for Thailand Party and People Reform Party were expected to join the pro-junta coalition, bringing its count to 132 – six more than needed if it gets the votes of all 250 senators.
Opposition numbers
Pheu Thai Party, which won 136 seats, previously pledged alliance with six other parties, bringing their total to 245 – less than half of the 500-member lower house.
The Democrat Party, the Bhumjaithai Party and four others hold 121 seats but have not decided if they will join an alliance.
An analyst said he expected smaller parties to join the PPP because the system of including the handpicked senators in the selection process made it difficult for the opposition parties to form a coalition that could control government.
"It was not a surprise. The joining of small parties is expected to bring stability to Palang Pracharat," said Titipol Phakdeewanich, the dean of the political science faculty at Ubon Ratchathani University.
Last week, Prayuth hinted that the list of 250 senators had been submitted for king's endorsement.
The full parliament is expected to open within May 23, no more than 15 days after the announcement of the official results, to select the house speaker, according to analysts. The speaker will call for a session to select the new prime minister, anticipated by May 27.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

The Thai government on Tuesday named 250 new senators, including many who served as military or police officers, forming a crucial voting bloc that could pave the way for incumbent leader Prayuth Chan-o-cha to remain prime minister.
The list of senators – handpicked by Prayuth's government and endorsed by the king – was published in the Royal Gazette on Tuesday. Because of their backgrounds, the new senators could help the military further entrench its influence in the government, an analyst said, noting that Prayuth became prime minister after leading a military coup in 2014.
"It reflects power retention of the junta after the election," said Titipol Phakdeewanich, dean of political science at Ubon Ratchathani University. "It highlights the fact that the country hasn't truly returned to democracy as the military continues entrench its power and its role in politics."
The announcement came days after the Election Commission officially announced 498 members of the 500-member lower parliament – 349 of whom were elected and 149 party-list seats filled using a mathematical calculation based on the total vote.
The senate list includes more than 100 active and retired military and police officers, 15 former ministers in Prayuth's cabinet, former legislative members and a handful of professionals. Prayuth's brother and brothers of his deputies Prawit Wongsuwan and Wissanu Krea-ngam are on the list. Only 26 are women.
Under the military-drafted constitution, the two houses of parliament will vote for a new prime minister. To form a new government, a candidate must have 376 votes, one more than half of the 750 legislators.
Because he picked the senators, Prayuth expects they will vote for him, meaning he needs only 126 members of the lower house to support him. On Monday, the Palang Pracharat Party (PPP), the major party supporting Prayuth, announced it formed a coalition with smaller parties to reach that number. Published election results showed that PPP won 115 seats.
The parliament's first session will take place on May 22 to select the speaker, who will initiate the process of voting for the new premier, the Royal Gazette also said on Tuesday.
Wissanu Krea-ngam, deputy prime minister of legal affairs, said the election of the chief executive should be finished by the end of the month.
An opposition party leader, meanwhile, questioned the legitimacy of the senate selection process.
"The senators were appointed by the NCPO ... if the 250 senators vote for Prayuth to be prime minister, will they perform their duty without conflict of interest?" asked Piyabutr Saengkanokkul, secretary-general of the anti-junta Future Forward Party, referring to the acronym for National Council for Peace and Order, the junta's official name.
The Future Forward Party, which won 80 elected and party-list seats, formed an alliance with other parties, including the Pheu Thai Party, which won 136 seats in the election but picked up no party-list seats. The opposition coalition claimed 245 members – far short of the number needed to form a government.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com