THE prime minister and many senior government officials said the disappearance of a historic plaque was no big deal – yet well-known lawyer and activist Srisuwan Janya was arrested yesterday as he urged the PM to conduct an investigation into the matter.

“This issue is nothing deadly,” Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha said yesterday. “I understand the sentiments. But shouldn’t we look ahead to the future instead?

“Arguing over history won’t do any good. It’s up to everyone’s intention on how they will move the country forward,” he said.

Prayut was expected to clarify doubts after authorities – from the police to the Government spokesperson’s team, Dusit district administration and the Fine Arts Department – had yet to clearly answer or take responsibility to work on the case of the missing historic plaque.

Last Friday, it was discovered that the 81-year-old plaque fixed at the Royal Plaza to commemorate the 1932 Revolution was replaced by a new one that has messages glorifying faith in Buddhism, the monarch and one’s own family.

The plaque, known in Thai as Mud Khana Ratsadon, was fixed at the site where People’s Party leader Phraya Phahonphonphayuhasena stood to read a statement to announce the end of the country’s absolute monarchy.

However, the marker – hailed by red-shirts as the site where Thai democracy started – was also deemed by royalists as a black mark on Thai history, given the nation’s turbulent political record.

Security personnel apprehended Srisuwan, secretary-general of the Association to Protect the Thai Constitution, yesterday while he was waiting to submit a petition to the premier urging him to investigate the missing plaque.

Srisuwan and two of his followers were reportedly taken in a van from a building opposite Government House to the military’s First Division of the King’s Guard, which is nearby. As of press time, he was still under detention.

Srisuwan is not the first person to call for action on the matter. Students lodged a complaint with police on Sunday asking authorities to investigate, as they deemed the plaque an item of state property.

However, deputy national police chief Srivala Rangsibrahmanakul said police would not take up the matter unless a complaint was filed by owners of the plaque or their heirs.

“The plaque wasn’t owned by anyone,” Srivala said. “The government agencies denied ownership, meaning that it does not belong to the government. It’s also not an antiquity,” he said.

“We don’t even know whom it belongs to. So, how could it be counted as theft?”

Given that a wrongdoing had yet to occur, police were not authorised to proceed or investigate the case, he said. “Anyone wanting to make this political will be considered based on the evidence available.”

A group of activists, who also plan to file another complaint to police, went to inspect the new plaque at the Royal Plaza yesterday. They then went to Bangkok City Hall to file a petition so they can watch footage recorded by security cameras around the compound.

Questions forwarded to Prayut yesterday included: Why was the original plaque replaced? Was it considered the government’s inheritance? Would his government hunt for the missing plaque? What is going to happen with the new one? Will people be allowed to perform an activity calling for a return of the old plaque?

But Prayut cut reporters short on whether he would assign security forces to look into the matter, saying people should no longer call for the return of the original plaque.

“It won’t be of any purpose. I don’t want conflicts to happen. I don’t want our country to be in trouble anymore,” he said.

In response to a potential activist movement, Prayut said: “I’m not threatening, but whatever they are doing, they should consider security laws and Article 116 [on sedition of the Criminal Code].”

Deputy PM and Defence Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwan also denied any knowledge on the affair. “I don’t know anything. I don’t follow this issue because it is nothing important. It’s not about people’s well-being,” he said. “I will let officers proceed on it. But who and how to proceed, I don’t know.”

Meanwhile, Human Rights Commissioner Angkhana Neelapaijit called yesterday for the officers concerned to explain why Srisuwan, the pro-democracy activist, was detained.

For three decades everyone from police and builders, to street cleaners and partying rich kids have gorged on noodles at Uncle Pan’s street-side stall in Bangkok’s chic-est neighbourhood.

But now the 67-year-old food vendor is no longer welcome at his pavement spot, amid a purge of food stalls by the city governor, who says they clutter up the capital’s curbs. With dishes that average Bt35-55 a plate, most of the city’s kerbside cooks don’t make a fortune selling their fare, which ranges from grilled seafood skewers to somtam.

But they have won global acclaim as some of the finest fast food chefs in the world, fuelling a booming city besotted by eating.

Like his peers, Pan Chaiyasit works behind a small pushcart from where he dishes out yellow egg noodles, topped with pork and wanton dumplings, to customers who sit together on plastic chairs spread across the pavement.

The family-run stall is a fixture of a neighbourhood that has exploded with development over the past few decades. But with the deadline to clear off the street expiring this week, Pan must either uproot his restaurant to a new locale or downsize so it doesn’t spill onto the sidewalk.

“I’ve been selling here since there was nothing,” the genial, apron-wearing uncle told AFP, explaining that the Thong Lor area was a tree-studded backwater when he first set up.

Today, his customers sit ringside to a central artery of Bangkok’s ritziest neighbourhood, lined with tower blocks, upscale restaurants and nightclubs. That makes for a varied clientele that pulls from all layers of the social fabric.

“Office workers, police, soldiers… even if they drive a Mercedes-Benz, they have the same right to eat here,” Pan said, wiping away a bead of sweat as waiters buzzed around him to serve an after-work crush.

Good business, which sees Pan rake in around Bt30,000 a month, rests on these close ties to the neighbourhood.

“We all know each other in this street. Everyone, factory workers, company staff, they know me and we are friends… if we move, we won’t have these relationships.”

Yet city officials insist the footpaths must be “returned to the public” and have laid out a plan to bar tens of thousands of street stalls from main roads, instead squeezing them into side-streets or hawkers’ centres.

Wanlop Suwandee, the Bangkok governor’s chief adviser, said local residents wanted to reclaim their pavements, so the BMA had to undertake a tough task to do just that.

“After the successful mission [to reclaim] several areas such as Siam Square and Pratunam, the BMA will manage the area in Bang Lamphu, as the next target,” Wanlop said.

“For areas that have already been managed, there will be strict law enforcement to prevent illegal vendors from returning to those areas. And if anyone finds illegal vendors, they can contact BMA officers to deal with |immediately.”

He said this operation stemmed from many complaints sent to the BMA from local people, who were inconvenienced by being unable to walk on pavements occupied by street vendors. So, the city’s administrators had to take action and get street vendors to move into markets, where space was provided for them.

“City Hall used to allow these street vendors to legally sell [food] on the street in the specific areas, but since the city is growing, these areas where street vendors were allowed have to be revoked – to return the space because of the increased urban population,” he said.

However, workers such as Pan, whose lives look set to be greatly affected, are not sure what the future holds – other than more bowls of soup.

“Even though we sometimes face troubles we have to keep selling. We have to fight to survive,” he said.

ROAD ACCIDENTS during the Songkran holidays rose in number this year but proved less deadly due to safety precautions.

The death toll from road accidents during the so-called seven dangerous days of 2017 Songkran stood at 390 – down from 442 during the same period a year earlier.

The decline occurred despite 3,690 road accidents between April 11 and April 17 this year – up by 7 per cent from the 2016 Songkran holidays.

Grisada Boonrach, deputy chairman of the Road Safety Directing Centre, attributed the lower death toll to stricter enforcement of traffic laws and safety measures. Ahead of the Songkran Festival, authorities warned travellers against sitting in the beds of pickups and passengers in rear seats were told to wear seat belts.

“Such safety precautions lowered the number of deaths,” Grisada said.

However, he said he was disappointed that the number of road accidents went up as did the number of injured people. As many as 3,808 people were injured in road accidents this year. The figure marked a 4-per-cent hike from 2016.

Drink driving was again the biggest cause of accidents, accounting for 43 per cent of all road accidents.

Other common causes were speeding and abrupt overtaking, accounting for 28 per cent and nearly 15 per cent of road accidents respectively.

In a separate interview, Dr Thanapong Jinvong of the Road Safety Policy Foundation agreed that the percentage of deaths in road accidents had been significantly reduced during the 2017 |holidays because of stricter law enforcement and heightened |safety precautions.

He called on authorities to strictly enforce traffic laws beyond the Songkran period to reduce the road death toll in the country.

Thanapong also urged other organisations and the public to help promote road safety.

Year-long moves planned

“State organisations, for example, may deny services to people if they come in on motorcycles without a helmet on,” he said.

Thanapong said the Excise Department should be cautious about granting permits for organisers of entertainment events where alcoholic drinks are served, because alcohol consumption was a major cause of road accidents.

He said if police recorded the cause of deaths from road accidents throughout the year, and not just during long holidays, it would become clearer how drink driving and the failure to comply with basic laws such as wearing seat belts claimed so many lives.

Thanapong said he expected the public to step up social pressure on traffic-law offenders so that road safety in the country could improve.

Grisada said the government planned to campaign against drunk driving and promote safety precautions throughout the year, in collaboration with various |agencies.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha instructed relevant authorities to take legal action against women who performed erotic dances and bared their breasts during the Songkran celebrations.

“How can they have no shame and no fear? Our society can’t go on with this,” he said.

The quake could be felt in Chiang Rai’s Mae Sai district. The area in Myanmar hit by the quake is about 39 kilometres northeast of Mae Sai district. The quake was about two kilometres deep, the centre said.

Sripun Wongsai, of Ban Muang Daeng Village, said that when the glass in his windows started shaking, he thought it was because of a strong wind. But when the floor started trembling, he left the house.

After the quake, he examined his house but found no damage.