Sumitchai Hattasan, of the Human Rights Lawyers Association, said some witnesses told his team that they heard more than one shot during the attempted arrest of Chaiyapoom Pasae in Chiang Mai province on March 17.

The lawyers will request an autopsy report from Nakhon Ping Hospital.

Sumitchai was speaking after visiting the site of the shooting at a checkpoint in Chiang Mai’s Chiang Dao district to collect evidence. The association has provided legal advice for Chaiyapoom’s family.

A soldier who admitted killing Chaiyapoom reportedly said he fired only one shot at the activist and had acted in selfdefence as Chaiyapoom had a weapon in his hand.

Chaiyapoom’s mother has called for the government to provide justice for her son who she said was not a drug smuggler as the army has claimed.

According to the soldier’s account, Chaiyapoom was riding in a car with his friend when he was stopped at the checkpoint. Soldiers testified that they found drugs in the car and Chaiyapoom tried to run away.

They claimed that he was about to throw a grenade at the soldier, forcing him to act in self-defence by firing at Chaiyapoom.

Sumitchai said that on examination of Chaiyapoom’s background, including talking to his friends, it was found that he had was of good behaviour, had good school grades and was helpful to his family. No one believed the allegation that he was involved with drug networks, Sumitchai added.

The person who agreed to buy the house in Klong Sam Wa district from widower Narin Manakasetthan did so without even checking the house condition. The property transfer would take place later this week, Ittaporn quoted Narain as saying after their recent phone conversation.

He said Narin would like to thank people who offered to donate money to the family but he would decline them as he believed he manage the expenses.

Narin’s daughter, Dr Chanoksuda Manakasetthan, sustained serious injuries after her sedan collided with a bus in Phayao province’s Jun district on January 6. She is currently in the intensive care unit at Chiang Mai’s Maharat Hospital.

Narin said he was aware that his daughter had suffered a serious brain injury but he still hoped a miracle would wake her and enable her to recover.

Although it wasn’t yet clear what had caused Chanoksuda’s crash, Ittaporn raised concerns over the high death rate of doctors aged under 30. He said these new graduates had to drive their cars home at night after long hours at work, and they were most at risk of dozing off behind the wheel.

The legal database for human rights advocacy iLaw will collect signatures from members of the public now that the new constitution has been promulgated, its programme manager Yingcheep Atchanont said yesterday.

Yingcheep said a number of orders issued by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) that are regarded as laws that restrict people’s rights and liberties.

He noted that the new charter, which came into effect on Thursday, allows members of the public to propose new laws.

“Despite the guarantee of rights and freedom in the new charter, people still cannot enjoy them fully due to the existence of the junta’s orders,” he said.

Yincheep added that a number of clauses in the charter are too complicated for ordinary people to understand, and it is too much of a burden for them to pursue study the charter themselves.

The charter drafters, including Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC) chairman Meechai Ruchupan, should explain to the public what the true intentions behind those clauses are, he said.

The government should also open more spaces for the public to discuss the charter content without being threatened with legal charges, he added.

Meanwhile, NCPO spokesper-son Colonel Piyapong Klinpan yesterday urged political parties to be patient waiting for the first four laws essential to the coming general election to be completed – then the NCPO, as well as the government, would possibly consider loosening their grip.

The NCPO has placed a ban on political parties to ensure peace and order, despite repeated calls from some political parties to lift the ban as the election becomes clearer following promulgation of the new charter.

Piyapong said there are still |some movements aimed at insti-|gating public unrest and the |junta needs to main-|tain peace and order through enforcement of Article 44.

But as the country moves forward, follow-ing the government’s road map, and if the |time is right, the junta and the government would possibly consider allowing political parties to hold such activities, he said.

In a related development, CDC spokesman Udom Ratamarit said that Article 77 of the new charter, which requires public hearings to be held before any law enactment, would not create any problems in implementing the new laws.

Udom said given the experience in preparing the new charter as |well as its organic laws, he trusted that Thai society, with its diversity |of views, could eventually find |common ground to resolve their |differences based on public interest.

Police and related agencies set up checkpoints to look for those violating traffic laws or Article 44-backed road safety regulations such as the requirement for public transport vans to have all passengers wearing seatbelts – punishable at up to Bt5,000 per head.

Public transport hubs saw throngs of travellers while buses and trains were packed. As part of the 4th “Police in Train” campaign, a 30-strong combined police team inspected all trains at Bangkok’s Hua Lamphong train station.

Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat), dubbed the Gateway to Northeast, experienced higher traffic volume on roads. Some sections such as the uphill stretch in Tambon Klangdong of Pak Chong district and another section in Tambon Klong Phai of Sikhieo district became particularly congested. Police said they expected that traffic conditions would be worst on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Korat transport office, which had increased the number of bus trips to 400 a day, yesterday fined two public transport operators Bt5,000 each for allegedly taking advantage of passengers. The two separate complaints were filed by Thai users on Facebook; one over a bus operator’s unfair refusal to sell ticket to a short-journey passenger and the other over a bus ticket seller who almost doubled a passenger’s fare.

Korat also opened a road safety centre at Pak Chong and joined the Miracle of Life Foundation to promote an awareness campaign in the hope of reducing the number of Songkran road casualties. Last Songkran, there were 3,447 road accidents nationwide which claimed 442 lives. Most cases stemmed from drunk driving and speeding.

Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith launched a road safety campaign in Ayutthaya’s wang Noi district in a bid to reduce Songkran road fatalities to under 10 per 100,000 of population.

Ayutthaya police issued a regulation to ban pickup trucks loaded with water tanks, people and water guns on five roads around the city’s heritage site as safety precaution during Thursday and Friday. They included two sections of Highway 309, a section of Highway 3263, Klong Sa Bua and Hua Ro-Pa Niad roads.

With more vehicles on roads to the South |yesterday, officials warned motorists using the Ranong-Chumphon road of 17 bends and 29 |accident-prone spots in Ranong.

Meanwhile, Songkhla’s Hat Yai district was buzzing yesterday with foreign tourists and Thai workers who returned for visits on packed Singapore-Malaysia-Hat Yai buses ahead of the Hat Yai Midnight Songkran Festival from Tuesday to Thursday. The event was expected to generate over Bt200 million in Hat Yai where hotels were fully booked.

Songkhla police joined with the provincial transport office to set up 33 alcohol checkpoints during Songkran. As well as making strict checks to catch any law-breaking motorists, they will dispatch 31 mobile police teams, each equipped with breathalysers, to patrol secondary roads and party areas to punish drunk drivers.

He said his stance was aimed at safeguarding any future move by Cambodia to petition the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

“I wish to oppose what happened [the opening of the casino on the overlapping territory], and if Cambodia petitions the [ICJ) court, I, as a Thai citizen, wish to show my objection here even though the government doesn’t,” said Veera.

Thailand and Cambodia had a similar row over the Preah Vihear Temple, a World Heritage Site, but the ICJ ruled that the temple belonged to Cambodia as Thailand had never objected to its claims, resulting in the country losing the case. Veera has been among nationalists in recent years trying to revive the case in the court, but to no avail.

A few weeks ago, he went to check on the new casino and learned that it would be sited on similar overlapping territory between the two countries, and possibly encroaching on the Ta Phraya National Park, part of Dong Phaya Yen-Khao Yai World Heritage Site.

Veera questioned why the military government had allowed this to happen.

The casino is reported to be situated close to the Chong Sai Takoo border checkpoint in Buri Ram where former politician Newin Chidchob, now a football-club owner, is known to be influential.

Newin took offence to the insinuation and filed a complaint with the police seeking charges against the Facebook account owner, apparently Veera, for posts that he claimed had implicated him of involvement with the casino. In a bid to prove his point, Veera planned to take a group of media personnel to the site, but was blocked by locals who feared his visit could affect their trade.

Veera said he had received some evidence on who had backed the casino and he would investigate it despite threats to his life.

The casino was opened yesterday, and many high-profile guests were invited. However, hundreds of visitors from outside the province were barred from joining the opening ceremony. No clear reason was given by security officers for keeping them out.

Pruet Boobphakam, the president of Thailand Elite, a government agency tasked with running the “exclusive” visa scheme, told the Press Association that Britain’s divorce from the EU was a chance to strengthen ties between the two countries.

“I think that Brexit will give us an opportunity to even open more, or to introduce Thailand even on a broader scale,” he said.

“You can live in Thailand for up to 20 years if you’d like to. Therefore it would be a good opportunity for both countries, in terms of UK people and the Thai people,” Pruet was quoted in http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk on Friday.

However, the website said the offer of Thailand’s 20-year residence programme, which was originally launched in 2003, does not come cheap, costing US$600 (Bt20,775) a year, on top of a $60,000 fee, although promoters say the low cost of living can help make up for the bill.

It also offers 10-year residence for around $30,000, with perks like VIP transport services and annual health checks at a private hospital, as well as a five-year option for $15,000.

Juerg Steffen, group chief operating officer at Henley & Partners, an international residence and citizenship advisory firm that promotes the programme, said visa schemes like Thailand’s were providing a clarity amid Brexit uncertainty.

“If you would like to retire today somewhere abroad as a UK citizen, then suddenly because of Brexit it’s not as clear that you can do that,” Steffen said.

“You have to wait for the next two years to see if you can settle in the EU. But with Thailand it is clear,” he said.

The stipulation creates duality of supreme laws, meaning the country is currently under the rule of at least two constitutions that are the newly promulgated charter and the interim charter of 2014.

The clause, which allows the use of Article 44 under the interim charter, has been contentious since the charter was publicised last year.

Nitirat, a group of law academics mostly from Thammasat University, had said in its statement against the draft charter during the referendum campaign last year that the licence to absolute power undermined all essential principles in the charter, especially the chapter on rights and liberties.

With such power, Nitirat said the ruling National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) junta could still maintain its capability to infringe on the people’s rights. And people who suffered this would not be able to take legal action against the violation because the constitution legalised all actions brought under the absolute power.

Worst-case scenarios pointed out by some Nitirat academics included postponement of an election using the capacity of Article 44.

However, Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC) chairman Meechai Ruchupan responded to the concern about Article 265 in the provisional clause as a means for the junta to retain power. He said it was necessary, as it would be impossible for the NCPO to rule until the next government took office without that power.

Accordingly, it could be said that the country has now remained under authoritarian rule although many people might mistake promulgation of the new charter as a faint sign that democratic rule would resume.

This is not to mention the fact that the provision clauses in the new charter also pave the way for a |five-year transitional period that will keep the coup-maker’s legacy alive for the next 20 years.

The provision clauses authorise the junta-appointed Senate to also play a significant role in determining the prime minister/s in the first five years after the election. But given each government has a tenure of four years, the stipulated number of five years means that the Senate could partly determine prime ministers for the next eight years – or two government tenures.

For another, the new charter prescribes a strict rule that future elected governments must follow the reform and national strategies initiated by the coup-makers. Failing to do so may cost their legitimacy in office as the junta-appointed Senate is also authorised to hold that government accountable in this matter.

Despite such questionable rules, the elected government might as well forget about amending the canon to turn everything around because the junta-appointed charter drafters also ensured that the amendment could not be done easily.

It would also take one third of the Senate to approve the amendment both in the first and the last readings in addition to having approval from at least 20 per cent of MPs of every opposition party in the Parliament.

Known to her family and friends as “June”, Sirikan, 30, will be the first woman to receive the L4L award, which was announced on Friday. She will accept the award at L4L’s seminar ‘The Voice of Rights’ about lawyers and freedom of expression, hosted by Allen & Overy in Amsterdam on May 19.

“Sirikan is a young Thai lawyer who stands up for human rights activists, journalists and people tried after the coup by military courts, even though she is facing considerable risks herself,” the release said.

“By giving this award to Sirikan, the jury wants to applaud her unwavering courage and commitment, and draw attention to the human rights situation in Thailand, which is relatively unknown in the West.”

Sirikan is a co-founder of Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR), a lawyers’ collective founded shortly after the military coup in May 2014 to provide legal aid and monitor the human rights situation in Thailand.

As a rights lawyer with TLHR, she gives legal services in high-profile rights cases on a pro bono basis. She acts for the increasing number of individuals facing lese-majeste charges.

She also represents human rights activists facing arbitrary arrest for exercising their rights to peaceful assembly and expression and journalists facing arbitrary arrest in the exercise of media freedom by documenting the work of human rights activists.

In 2015, Sirikan started representing students from the New Democracy Movement (NDM) who were involved in peaceful protests on June 25, 2015, calling for an end to military rule.

Since then, she has been subject to continual intimidation by the Thai authorities. Within one year, she has been charged with four criminal offences in connection with her professional activities. If found guilty, she could face up to at least 10 years in jail.

A further case was initiated against her by police, under charges of reporting false information – for having filed a complaint of malfeasance in office against police. If convicted, she could face up to a five years in prison.

The L4L award was created in 2011 by Dutch Civil Society Organisation. L4L is an independent and non-political Dutch foundation seeking to promote proper functioning of the rule of law by pursuing independence in the legal profession. The award, worth 10,000 euros, is given every two years.