HUMAN RIGHTS campaigners condemned the fatal torture of a conscript at a military base in Surat Thani on Saturday, while the Army admitted some commanders became too angry when punishing subordinates.

Pictures of conscript Private Yuthinan Boonniam, who was hospitalised with a swollen face and bruises, were widely shared on social media on Saturday, as this year’s annual military draft proceeded.

Angkhana Neelapaijit, commissioner of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), pointed out that this was not the first case of torture resulting in death at a military training camp, while urging the Army to stop using harsh punishment and respect draftees’ human rights.

Offering her condolences to the victim’s family, she said: “As it is a duty for Thai men to serve as conscripts to serve their country, the Army also has a duty to take good care of them and respect their human rights.

“The death of Private Yuthinan was a tragic one and can be considered as a human rights violation. The NHRC will discuss how to deal with the case on Tuesday.”

She said torture and harsh punishment in military camps were nothing new, as the NHRC had earlier considered the case of Private Wichian Phuaksom, who was tortured to death at a training camp in Narathiwat in 2011. Following that incident, the NHRC submitted recommendations to the Army.

“We have asked the Army to stop the violent punishment and torture. Moreover, the Army has to properly compensate the family of the victim too,” she said.

Preeda Nakpiew, a lawyer from the Cross Cultural Foundation, said his organisation had assisted in legal battles regarding at least three similar cases, including those of Wichian and Private Songtham Mudmad, who was beaten to death at a military base in Yala last year.

“It is totally illegal to torture anyone, even if they are subordinates in the Army. Our organisation is trying hard to campaign on the inspection of exercise of power inside military bases, but so far our efforts have not been fruitful,” Preeda said.

“This is a chronic problem in the Army. Most of the time, the exercise of power at a military base is left unchecked and there is no control on the use of power to order or punish someone, despite there being clear rules about this.”

Maj-General Wichai Thassan-amontian, commander of the Military Circle 45, ordered the two soldiers allegedly involved in the torture of Private Yuthinan Boonniam, which led to his death, to be removed from their posts at Military Circle 45 to facilitate further investigation.

Wichai also ordered the setting up of a committee to investigate the death of Private Yuthinan.

Meanwhile, Royal Thai Army spokesperson Colonel Winthai Suvaree said Saturday’s incident was caused by commanders who did not control their emotions.

“The death of a conscript is very rare. Most of those [who died] had weak health or a chronic disease, so they had problems when facing intense punishment, and we find very few cases from more than 100,000 conscripts. We only find such a case once every year, or less than that,” Winthai said.

The spokesman said the incident would not have any effect on military conscription this year, because it was “a separate story”.

It has been reported that the number of conscriptions is slowly increasing every year.

This year there was a need for 103,097 draftees compared to 101,307 in 2016 and 99,373 in 2015.

An operation involving 50 police officers was launched in Suphan Buri and Phetchaburi provinces as part of the Royal Thai Police and government’s policy to tackle illegal loan sharks.

A key target was a house in Phetchaburi owned by Chanpen Kaewmeesee, a 32-year-old lender known in the business as “Sai Jad Tem”. Officers found a bunch of document folders that kept records of loans as well as five guns stored in a safe on the second floor of the house.

Police also searched Chanpen’s office premises, which hosts a business branded “Excellent”, and found 20 motorcycles. All the items were confiscated for further examination.

It was found that Chanpen had more than Bt100 million in circulation. She also owned three of the five guns found in her house. The two others belonged to her boyfriend Suradet Suksamran, 39, a member of the municipality of the province’s Tambon Ban Lad who was also at Chanpen’s house during the raid.

The guns were all found to be legally owned. But Suradet was charged with illegally carrying firearms in public because his guns were found in another person’s house.

Chanpen allegedly confessed to lending money for more than eight years, starting with Bt90,000 capital.

She was charged with lending money at interest rates higher than permitted by law.

Police also cracked down on another loan-shark network under the name “Cheap Development Company” in Suphan Buri. The company has been registered as a finance business.

Investigators said that the network had more than Bt4 million in circulation.

Police said the two loan-shark networks were unconnected.

Despite increasingly advanced medical technology, their vital surgeries cannot take place without an act of kindness from fellow humans.

“One organ donor can give a new life to up to seven people,” Organ Donation Centre director Dr Visist Dhitavat said.

Established in 1994, the centre has recently tried to raise public awareness of the waiting list and encourage organ donations.

On Saturday, the centre organised a series of activities to mark the importance of organ donations. But perhaps the media coverage was greater a week earlier when a mother agreed to donate urgently needed organs from her brain-dead son.

Brain-dead is entirely different from a vegetative state. When a brain is dead, the brain stem has already stopped functioning and patients will not respond to any stimuli.

“I am sad that my son died. But I am partly happy that his heart saves other people’s lives and that his heart is still beating somewhere,” Yong Sirisuk said.

Her 14-year-old son suffered serious head injuries on March 17. Despite the efforts of surgeons, he was declared brain-dead a week later, which was when Yong knew organ donation was possible. “I think the donations will mean huge merit for my son. As his body will have to be cremated anyway, I have persuaded my mum and my relatives to agree to organ donations,” Yong said.

Visist said if family members did not give consent, it would be impossible to transfer the organs to patients on the waiting list.

“This rule applies even to cases where the brain-dead persons have declared an intention to donate organs,” he said.

His centre has therefore sought collaboration with various agencies in an attempt to raise public awareness and understanding of how organ donations can breathe a new life into ailing and suffering people.

“We have allocated organs to patients who need them the most. The allocations are fair and transparent,” Visist said. Over the past 23 years, more than 850,000 people have declared their intention to donate organs to others on death. In 2016 alone, up to 9,241 people came forward to express their wishes. Although the number of people willing to donate organs is not small, it is far lower than demand, given that only a small percentage of willing persons will be in a situation in which organ donations can take place.

“People who have registered for organ donation have usually taken good care of their health in the hope that their organs will be good. They want to be useful. Their good healthcare is good for them too. Most have had a long life,” Visist said. Last year, his centre registered just 220 organ donors and allocated organs to 512 patients. According to strict rules on anonymity, organ beneficiaries and their families will never know who the donors were to prevent any problems that from arising.

“We need to ensure there is nothing that can turn an organ donation into an organ sale. It’s best donors and receivers never know each other,” Visist said. He said the Thai Red Cross Society, which oversees his centre, had shouldered the expenses of organ donations while recipients handled just their own medical costs.

The Provincial Administration Department and the Land Transport Department have also contributed to the promotion of organ donation. Today, it is possible for people to declare via their national identity cards and driving licences an intention to donate their organs in the event of becoming braindead.

FIVE LUXURY cars and illicit drugs valued at more than Bt61 million have been confiscated following separate police raids over the weekend in which three suspected members of a drug gang were arrested.

Police from the Patrol and Special Operations Division and Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) conducted a raid on the house in Bangkok’s Bang Khunthien district yesterday, where they found 480,000 methamphetamine tablets and 48 kilograms of crystal meth, or “ice”.

Two suspects were arrested during the operation – two 17-year-old teenagers (a boy and a girl) whose names were withheld due to their age.

Yesterday’s operation followed a separate raid on Saturday by Samut Prakan police on a house in Samrong Nuea district, where suspected drug dealer Terdsak Ketprom, 41, was arrested. Five luxury cars found in his house, including two Lamborghini cars and two Mercedes-Benz, were confiscated, police said.

Police questioning of the suspect led to yesterday’s raid of the Bangkok house.

‘Major drug dealer’

Police Maj-General Surachet Hakparn, commander of the Patrol and Special Operations Division, said yesterday that police had suspected Terdsak was a major dealer who had worked with Lao drug traffickers in smuggling large amounts of narcotics into Thailand.

A police officer offered to buy drugs from Terdsak in a sting operation that led to his arrest, Surachet said.

The suspects were charged with colluding to smuggle drugs into the country with intent to sell.

Police Maj-General Thammanoon Traithippayapong, the chief of Samut Prakan police, yesterday said investigation found that a drug syndicate in Laos had hired Terdsak’s gang to take care of the narcotics that would later be delivered to their customers in southern provinces, including Chumphon, Songkhla and Surat Thani.

He said police were aware of the identity of the major dealers in Laos allegedly behind this drug gang. They said they would work with the narcotics control board and the Narcotics Suppression Bureau for their arrests in the future.

In January, Thai police made a high-profile arrest of Laotian drug kingpin Xaysana Keopimpha at Suvarnabhumi Airport following his vacation in Phuket.

Metropolitan police chief Pol Lt-General Sanit Mahathavorn said on Sunday after the court issued the arrest warrant for Khomsan Totim, a 34-year-old fugitive, that the investigation team was tracking the suspect’s escape and would apprehend him soon.

“We believe the suspect is on the run and have found that he packed his belongings and headed to Phetchabun’s Lom Sak district. It is possible that he is trying to flee to his hometown in Loei and may cross the border into a neighbouring country,” Sanit said.

The Criminal Court issued the arrest warrant for Khomsan on allegations of rape, assault and depriving someone of his or her liberty.

Khomsan also faces another arrest warrant issued by the Rayong Court in November 2015 on allegations of sexual harassment of a youth less than 15 years old, confining the youth, assault and theft.

Khomsan allegedly tried to rape a 27-year-old Myanmar passenger on Saturday, but she was able to escape after fighting off her attacker.