Wildlife activist Edwin Wiek said yesterday that Milo was “a bit weak, but in good spirits” after being dumped in the jungle while still in a cage.

More than 12,000 people signed a petition organised by Change.org calling for “Help for Milo”. Wiek, from the Wildlife Friends Foundation of Thailand, said his group would pay for Milo to live at a National Parks facility in Ratchaburi. She is expected to be shifted there shortly.

Animal lovers were calling for the closure of a zoo in Phuket after it admitted releasing the orangutan to avoid prosecution. Orangutans are protected and cannot be kept without a licence, under the CITES convention.

The Phuket Zoo was found to be in illegal possession of Milo for the past two years. When wildlife officials moved in to confiscate the animal, zoo officials said they had released her into the surrounding jungle.

“Not only were they keeping an endangered animal without a licence, they released an invasive species into a protected jungle without permission,” Wiek told DPA. He had feared the animal – kept in captivity for a long time – may not survive in the wild.

Two people were rescued shortly after the drama late on Sunday. A nine-year-old boy was saved, but 58-year-old Wisut Prasert died on the way to hospital.

At 10pm, Phuket Marine Police and rescue workers from Kusoltham Foundation rushed to the Laem Nga area to search for the missing pair but ended the mission shortly after because of poor visibility. They resumed the search yesterday morning for Mad Panthip, 51 and La-ong Theppitak, 54.

An initial probe suggested they were part of a group of four that headed out to guard a yacht anchored 100 metres offshore when the waves hit them.

The team included an explosive ordnance disposal crew, and they initially found that the couple had previously sneaked into the facility to collect explosive rounds including several cannon shells. Once such cannon shell exploded and killed them on Sunday while they tried to remove the black powder.

It was reported that their house was the site of a previous explosion which caused an injury and led to the village headman banning them from bringing in explosives. However people said they reportedly continued their scavenging.

Chula Sukmanop, director of the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) and director-general of the department, said yesterday that authorities would follow up on Nok Air’s disclosure on Saturday that it would scratch 20 flights scheduled for today, after the abrupt cancellation of 17 flights on February 14 because of a pilot strike.

In the southern province of Trang, there was no chaos at the airport after the budget carrier said it would discontinue two of its four daily flights today, a source said. The flights were those departing Don Mueang International at 11.15am and departing Trang for Bangkok at 11.45am.

Thaworn Saeng-ampai, director of Trang Airport, said Nok Air’s elimination of two flights forced people to book on Thai AirAsia instead, but overall there was no serious impact on people’s travel plans.

Trang Airport was served by only Nok Air and AirAsia, each of which had offered three round trips carrying about 1,800 passengers a day.

Meanwhile, Bangkok Airways has initiated legal proceedings against one of the four passengers accused of being behind a bomb threat on a Phuket-bound flight on Sunday afternoon, a source said.

Wicharit Namuangrak faces a charge of intentionally passing on a faulty message that caused panic on an aircraft in violation of the Air Navigation Act of 2015.

Wicharit, who denied any wrongdoing, was released on bail.

CAAC director Chula told the “Inside Thailand” television programme that this was more likely a misunderstanding.

Although they probably didn’t mean to lie or scare anyone, the department would hear from the pilot and air hostess before taking any action, he added.

The four men – a Brahman priest and his disciples – were heading to Phuket for a religious ceremony.

As they were stowing a metal box carrying an instrument in the overhead storage bin, their conversation was overheard and misinterpreted, said Pol Colonel Kittipop Chompoonuch, superintendent of Suvarnabhumi Airport Police Station. One passenger – later identified as Wicharit – reportedly warned the others to handle the box gently or “it will ra-berd” – meaning “explode” in Thai but also “break open” in the northeastern dialect.

This resulted in the flight attendant reporting a possible bomb threat to the captain and a thorough search of the plane as per protocol.

The plane was allowed to leave about five hours after its scheduled departure, while the men were brought in for questioning.

SUPPORTERS of acting Supreme Patriarch Somdej Chuang have threatened to mobilise Buddhist monks to protest again if the government continues to delay seeking royal endorsement for Somdej Chuang’s nomination to become the country’s top monk.

Wat Paknam’s legal team said on Sunday that it should receive a letter from the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) today to summon Wat Paknam abbot Somdej Chuang for questioning over an illegal classic Mercedes-Benz that was registered under his name.

Where the questioning takes place would be up to the DSI, said Supapatpoch Nitisathorn, who works on the legal team.

He said he knew nothing about a senior monk at the temple who reportedly contacted the DSI to collect the car, adding that the temple would co-operating with the DSI if it wished to impound the car in accordance with the law.

The car scandal has reportedly hurt Somdej Chuang’s chance to officially become the Supreme Patriarch. Although the Supreme Sangha Council (SSC) has nominated him for the post, Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha has not yet forwarded his name for royal endorsement.

The DSI said it would discuss the car controversy with the Customs Department and submit the probe results to Somdej Chuang and set a time and date to interview him.

National Buddhism Office deputy director Chayapol Pongsida said three monk representatives were appointed by the SSC to discuss the Supreme Patriarch nomination with the government.

They are Phra Phrom Munee of Wat Ratchabopit (Dhammayut sect), Phra Phrom Bundit of Wat Prayurawongsawas (Maha Nikaya sect) and Phra Phrommoli of Wat Pak Nam Phasi Charoen (Maha Nikaya sect).

Chayapol said they would discuss the situation with Prime Minister’s Office Minister Suwapan Tanyuvardhana soon, although they were yet to hear from Suwapan.

The warning that monks may gain protest if the government continues to ignore the nomination was made by Phra Medhi Dhammajahn, who led thousands of monks in a show of support for Somdej Chuang last week.

On his Facebook page on Sunday, Phra Medhi Dhammajahn said the reported invitations for monks to gather yesterday to express their support for Somdej Chuang didn’t come from the Buddhism Protection Centre of Thailand.

He suggested that the rumour of monks gathering reflected the uneasy feeling of monks nationwide over the protracted nomination drama.

“I have already said such a thing will cause more monks to mobilised and stay longer and be more difficult to negotiate with, which is due to anti-trust,” he said in the post.

“Keep your promise and follow the law, then it will end,” he added.

Deputy Minister of Defence General Udomdej Sitabutr, who attended a merit-making ceremony yesterday at Bangkok’s Wat Phichaiyatikaram to mark Makha Bucha Day, said the government wasn’t worried about rumours of monks gathering at Sanam Luang or Nakhon Pathom’s Buddha Monthon park or at Government House to express their stance.

He said the National Council for Peace and Order would carefully ensure public safety and convenience at such sites.

He said he didn’t want any other agenda to be hitched to the agenda on the important religious day.

He hoped everything would be peaceful as the Buddha Monthon event for Makha Bucha was a good activity and the government supported religious activities.

Thai Buddhists yesterday provided food offering to monks, vowed to adhere to the five precepts and performed the Vien Tien candlelight processions around Ubosotat at temples nationwide to mark Makha Bucha Day.

The national holiday is celebrated annually on the full moon day of the third lunar month to commemorate the unscheduled gathering of 1,250 monks in front of Lord Buddha after his enlightenment.