The fine was imposed for failing to submit a driver’s personal details to the department for a criminal background check and for loaning a taxi to a person not licensed to drive public transport.

The taxi’s licence plate number, Thor Yor 4448, has also been cancelled, and the company’s application to increase its fleet has been put on hold for six months from the date of the request.

The department has notified police to additionally charge the suspect, 44-year-old Khamkhuncharoen Khonchaturas, with driving a taxi without the proper licence.

Khamkhuncharoen, former first name Somkiat, was arrested on Wednesday for driving the tourist from Bangkok to Suphan Buri and allegedly raping her. He is charged with rape and detaining a person against their will.

Police say he committed at least two rapes previously. He served about four years in prison for assaulting a 20-year-old Thai taxi passenger in Pathum Thani on September 24, 2008, and then was arrested again for raping a 25-year-old Myanmar passenger in Bangkok on January 9, 2013.

The Brazilian victim, a former beauty pageant contestant in her 20s, told police she arrived at Don Mueang International Airport from Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday and hired a taxi at 1.30pm to take her to an address on Soi Thonglor in Bangkok. The driver instead took her to Suphan Buri, where the alleged rape took place, and left her there.

The Land Transport Department has been pressured on the social media to improve the taxi-registration system and ensure that drivers are more strictly screened, particularly for criminal backgrounds.

President of the Princess Maha Chakri Award Foundation Committee, Krissanapong Kirtikara, said that Suankularb Wittayalai Nonthaburi School teacher Jirat and 10 outstanding teachers from Asean countries and Timor-Leste would be given the awards by HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn on October 11.

He made the announcement during the foundation’s international conference on Wednesday at The Sukosol Hotel where the 11 award recipients shared their teaching experiences with 500 Thai teachers.

Besides the two Khunakorn awards, the foundation also granted 17 “Ying Khun” awards to Thai teachers who were selected by the central committee, and 136 “Khru Kwan Sid” awards to those who were chosen by provincial committees in recognition of their great contributions, he said.

The Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC) on Wednesday held a seminar to hear public opinions regarding the organic law concerning the constitutional procedure.

The seminar was aimed at gathering opinions on three points: whether the current procedure was appropriate; how people should bring constitutional disputes to the Constitutional Court; and, what principles the judgement should be based on.

Constitutional Court judge Charan Phakdithanakul told the forum that although in theory the Court should adopt the inquisitorial legal system, actual real practice had met with several challenges.

He pointed out that the difficulties stemmed from an unclear definition of the inquisitorial legal system. The judge urged involved agents to come to an agreement on the extent of the adoption of such a system to ensure everyone was on the same page when it came to real practice.

Charan said current practice was influenced by the adversarial system despite the theory. He proposed that the organic law open the way for the Court to be less rigid and conduct the trial by having both sides join a meeting with the judge to reach a mutual agreement, he said.

He said this was to ensure that cases in the court were not settled based on the merits of legal expertise and technicality.

Regarding the rights of people to bring cases to the Court, he welcomed the CDC move to enable people to do so with fewer conditions compared to the previous legislation.

However, Charan also proposed that the organic law prescribe legitimate rules so that while people could approach the Court on their own, they did not flood the Court with unnecessary cases.

Charan said judgements in the Constitutional Court should be delivered as an agreement of all judges while each of them could also offer their personal opinions in the cases.

In addition, he also proposed that besides the verdict the Court should be able to give guidelines on procedures following the verdict.

Supoj Kaimuk, a former Constitutional Court judge and current CDC member, had a similar opinion on the serious adoption of the inquisitorial system.

He said that it was time that such a system be improved, suggesting that the Constitutional Court should hold a seminar on the matter so that all involved agencies could have mutual understanding about the procedures under the system.

The constitutional procedure organic law was among 10 legislations the new Constitution required the CDC to complete.

At the seminar to gather opinion about the law, many individuals from the judiciary as well as from the current legislative and executive branches joined the session to hear about the new law and related suggestions.

CDC chairman Meechai Ruchupan shared some key features written in the Constitution regarding the Constitutional Court. He said the CDC aimed to make the Court more proactive by enabling it to give a verdict in response to points raised by inquiring agencies without actual disputes taking place.

In addition, Meechai said the new Constitution also allowed people to bring cases to Court in case the government agencies failed to fulfil their duties required by the Constitution.

“For example, we may consider banning them from driving a taxi again for life,” he said.

Prawit added that police should discuss with relevant authorities, including the Transport Ministry how to prevent taxi-related crimes more effectively.

“There is need to convene meetings with relevant taxi operators too,” he said.

The Land Transport Department has fined Thana Siam Taxi Cooperative Bt3,000 for renting one of its vehicles to the man who allegedly raped a Brazilian tourist.

The fine was imposed for failing to submit a driver’s personal details to the department for a criminal background check and for loaning a taxi to a person not licensed to drive public transport.

The taxi’s licence plate number, Thor Yor 4448, has also been cancelled, and the company’s application to increase its fleet has been put on hold for six months from the date of the request.

The department has notified police to additionally charge the suspect, Khamkhuncharoen Khonchaturas, 44, with driving a taxi without the proper licence.

Khamkhuncharoen, formerly named Somkiat, was arrested on Wednesday for driving the tourist from Bangkok to Suphan Buri and allegedly raping her. He is charged with rape and detaining a person against their will.

Police say he committed at least two rapes previously. He served about four years in prison for assaulting a 20-year-old Thai taxi passenger in Pathum Thani on September 24, 2008, and was arrested again for raping a 25-year-old Myanmar passenger in Bangkok on January 9, 2013.

The Brazilian victim, a former beauty pageant contestant in her 20s, told police she arrived at Don Mueang International Airport from Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday and hired a taxi at 1.30pm to take her to an address on Soi Thonglor in Bangkok. The driver instead took her to Suphan Buri, where the alleged rape took place, and left her there.

The Land Transport Department has been pressured on social media to improve the taxi registration system and ensure that drivers are more strictly screened, particularly for criminal backgrounds.

FORMER UK prime minister David Cameron has urged the global tourism industry to work closely with governments and embrace new technology to boost traveller safety and cross-border security amid increased challenges.

In a keynote speech at yesterday’s World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC)’s summit in Bangkok, Cameron, who resigned from the premiership following the Brexit vote in June, said US President Donald Trump’s travel ban against six predominantly Muslim nations was the biggest problem facing the tourism industry, even though the ban had been stopped by US judges.

Thailand’s Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha also spoke during the opening ceremony, saying that the government needs to adopt a balanced approach in dealing with terrorism and other threats as the country last year attracted more than 30 million tourists, resulting in revenues of more than Bt2.52 trillion.

Regarding new technology, Cameron said governments should use more biometric data and other advanced systems to strengthen border controls and screen international tourists.

The former UK premier also highlighted the positive impacts of tourism on national economies as the industry accounts for about 10 per cent of global jobs and GDP.

For underdeveloped and developing counties, tourism’s trickle-down effects can change societies for the better in terms of stronger and more rapid economic growth and job creation.

Regarding Brexit, which his government had campaigned against, Cameron said the vote for Britain to leave the European Union could be seen as representing a reversal of globalisation as some people felt they were being left behind.

However, Cameron said he did not believe that globalisation was a failure but agreed it needed to change course. British voters wanted to leave the EU because they felt the pace of immigration went too fast and too far.

In this context, better technology was needed for border controls and the screening of international tourists, but the answer was not building a wall, as sought by US President Trump, Cameron said.

Biometric data and other technologies should be used in visa and immigration processes as freedom to travel as well as free trade were among the best measures to ensure peace, he said.

Overall, the global tourism industry needs openness while one of its biggest challenges is terrorism and extremism.

Cameron urged global leaders to boost their alliances with moderate Muslims to defeat extremists.

As a former premier, he said national security came first when there were threats and he also urged the tourism industry to work more closely with governments to tackle these issues, especially with regards to the use of new technology.

Prayut said environmental sustainability was another key issue facing the tourism industry in Thailand as the country relied significantly on tourism for jobs and economic growth.

He also said that his government had adopted the “Thailand-Plus-One” policy to promote its trade and investment as well as the tourism industry.

This means that Thailand is being positioned as a gateway to connect to other Asean countries, especially Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, to create a single Asean tourist destination.

This year is being dubbed the “Visit Asean 50 Year” to mark the regional grouping’s 50th anniversary when more than 120 million international tourists are expected to visit Asean countries.

Prayut said tourism could help reduce poverty and conflicts among nations while upgrading quality of life.

Academics and rights campaigners yesterday demanded that the government disclose the complete EEC Bill, conduct a Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA), and protect people and community rights from the EEC development.

Kan Tattiyakul, the coordinator of the Eastern Ally Network, said the EEC development must be properly regulated and assessed with an RIA and local people must be allowed to be involved during the process.

“We found that the progress of the EEC contains several legal shortcuts and local people were kept out of the process. So people who will be directly affected by this mega-project cannot get the information and participate in the project,” Kan said.

He said his organisation had tried to view the most recent draft of EEC Bill, but the Industry Ministry Permanent Secretary Office had refused to hand over a copy.

“This project is a matter of our future but we are deprived of participation in this development. We want to design our own future, not just let the government do whatever it wants without considering our livelihoods,” he said.

“We do not object to the development, but we are already suffering from problems with the Eastern Seaboard Industrial Zones and we want the government to make sure that our problems, such as pollution or wealth disparity, are solved before they begin the new major development.”

Ecological Alert and Recovery Thailand director Penchom Saetang said according to article 77 of the new Constitution just came into effect earlier this month, the government had a duty to comply with the Constitution and conduct an RIA on the EEC Bill.

Unjust development

“The EEC is another major development in the Eastern Region, thus the bill must pass an RIA conducted by a neutral agency and have public participation before it becomes a law,” Penchom said.

“This is to ensure that the newly formed EEC will not trade the rights of people to live in a healthy environment for privileges for investors.”

She said the allowance for foreign investors to lease land for 99 years was not new, and the Eastern Region had already experienced industrial development on the Eastern Seaboard for about 40 years.

She asked who would be responsible for the restoration of severely polluted land – which investors will leave behind at the end of the Eastern Seaboard lease in 50 years – after they had already gained tremendous profits.

Decharut Sukkumnoed, a lecturer at the Faculty of Economics, Kasetsart University, said the current trend of EEC development was unjust, as the government compromised the rights of local people and gave privileges to investors.

“A good development should consider the impact on all aspects not just the economic side, and local people must benefit from the development too,” he said.

Kornchai Klayklueng, commander of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Division, declined to reveal the names of the suspects yesterday, saying his force would not spare criminals no matter how influential they were.

The mother of one of the victims has claimed that several government officials, including a police deputy superintendent and Mae Hong Song Governor Suebsak Iamwichan, were customers of the ring.

“Her latest interviews with media include new information, particularly the parts regarding alleged sex buyers. I ordered her interviews transcribed,” Kornchai said.

Three alleged procurers have already been charged with human trafficking. They are Pol Senior Sgt-Major Yutthachai Thongchat, who worked at the Nam Piang Din Police Station in Mae Hong Son until the scandal broke, Piyawan Sukma and Piyathas Parpthiensuwan.

Pol Colonel Montri Baothog, a superintendent at the anti-trafficking unit, said there was clear evidence against these three suspects.

He downplayed concerns that one mother had deliberately exposed the ring to hurt three police with whom she had a conflict.

“We have not yet looked into those rumours. But we have handled the case based on evidence,” he said.

Deputy national police Commissioner-General Srivara Ransibrahmanakul said he had already ordered a disciplinary inquiry into the three implicated police.

“There is enough evidence to launch a probe as of now, but not yet to seek arrest warrants,” he said.

Pol Maj-General Panudej Boonruang, acting deputy Provincial Police Region 5 chief, said an investigation was underway to determine whether this case involved more victims and patrons. The mother, who used to work as a police informant, firmly pointed her finger at Suebsak, saying her daughter was forced into providing sex to this much older man.

The three alleged victims, now aged 17-19, were dragged into the flesh trade in late 2013 or early 2014.

The Interior Ministry has launched an investigation into Suebsak who has denied any wrongdoing. “I don’t drink or smoke. I don’t visit night entertainment venues either,” Suebsak said. A source said Interior Minister Anupong Paochinda had phoned the Mae Hong Son governor and rebuked him over the alleged human trade controversy in the northern border province.

“I have asked the Mae Hong Son governor about this. I told him that as the governor he has to know what’s going on in his province.

“He can’t say he doesn’t know. It is just a small province and the governor has to know everything,” Anupong was quoted as saying.

He was speaking at a weekly meeting of senior Interior Ministry officials, according to the source.

The mother who is seeking justice for the girls lured into prostitution said there were 11 sex-worker procurement rings in Mae Hong Son.

Atchariya Ruangrattanapong, president of the Help Crime Victim Club, dismissed reports that his club had abandoned the mother after accepting Bt15,000 from her.

“It’s not true. We have helped follow up her case all along. Besides, the Bt15,000 that she gave to the club was for travel expenses that the club’s team had incurred for their trip to pursue the case in Mae Hong Son,” he said.

During the trip to Mae Hong Son, the team talked to several local officials and members of local non-governmental organisations while gathering evidence strongly suggesting that Yutthachai was the head of a procurement ring, he said.