The Court found Chatchaya Ramos or Yuyee guilty of having in her possession 251 milligrams of cocaine when she was searched at Don Muang Airport on November 10, 2012. The drug was concealed in her suitcase.

The Criminal Court initially gave her a  20-year jail sentence but later commuted it  to 15 years and three months after she gave useful information in the investigation. She was also fined Bt1.5 million.

Yuyee was denied bail from both Courts and has already been detained for three years.

Following the fire report at about 8am, Muang Pattaya Police Station investigation superintendent Colonel Chatchapil Pattarasiriporn contacted the Fire Department and five fire engines were dispatched.

It took firefighters about 30 minutes to extinguish the blaze, which destroyed the inside of the Rock Street Pattaya club.

A cleaner told police she heard the transformer in front of the shop explode three times before the flames spread quickly in the business and she and fellow workers fled the building and alerted police.

The partial collapse of the two-storey 20-room building in Soi Ramkhamhaeng 39 in Wang Thong Lang district took place at about 10.20pm and caused two slight injuries.

It also caused a short circuit, prompting officials to cut power to the premises.

A tenant of the building, Somboon Doklang, said she had heard concrete creaking at about 11am on Tuesday when workers were drilling concrete to lay pipes and then she left for work.

She returned that night and saw the building had sunk about a metre sunken and its walls had cracks in them, so she alerted authorities.

Wang Thong Lang District Office director Jitlada Thanomsak said the 20-year-old building was located on an old rice field, so its partial collapse may have stemmed from soil subsidence.

Jitlada said officials had aided tenants by providing them temporary shelter, as residents were barred from entering the building while the incident was inspected.

Metropolitan Police Area 4 chief Maj-General Nanthachat Supamongkol said no charges had been filed at this stage, pending the result of the probe.

The building has 33 tenants but only 19 had no place to stay after the incident. Of the 19, 10 will stay at police flats and the rest at a nearby community centre.

THE CABINET has asked the Revenue Department to collect tax, which could amount to Bt16 billion, from former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra over the controversial sale of Shin Corp.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said after yesterday’s Cabinet meeting that he would not use his special powers under Article 44 of the interim constitution to meddle in the Shin Corp case.

Involved state agencies had agreed on Monday that normal legal procedure would be applied to this tax case, he said, referring to a meeting of representatives from the Auditor General’s Office, the Finance Ministry, the Council of State and the Anti-Money Laundering Office.

He said the government followed the advice given by the Auditor General, who suggested collecting tax payable from the sale of Shin Corp shares. Admitting that the issue was legally complicated, Prayut said the Revenue Department would have to proceed with collecting the tax by the end of the month.

‘Fight legal case fairly’

“The Revenue Department may be or not be able to collect taxes but eventually the case should be brought to the court, where concerned parties can fight the legal case fairly. I did not want to attack anybody personally,” he said.

Government Spokesman Maj-General Sansern Kaewkamnerd said the next move was the Revenue Department’s responsibility, but if Thaksin did not agree to pay the taxes due then the case would be taken to court.

The Auditor General has pressed the Finance Minister and the head of the Revenue Department since last year to collect taxes linked to the sale from the Shinawatra family, estimated to be worth between Bt12 billion and Bt16 billion.

The family sold its majority holding in Shin Corp to Temasek Holdings of Singapore in early 2006.

The Revenue Department, in response to the Auditor General’s request, said that it could not act, as the assets had been seized by the Supreme Court and the time limit for a tax summons had expired.

There have been many twist and turns in the Shin Corp tax saga.

It started in early 2006 when Ample Rich Investments Ltd, owned by Thaksin, sold 329.2 million shares to his son Panthongtae and daugther Pinthongta at Bt1 a piece, when the market price for a single share was Bt49.25.

Within a few days, Temasek, a wealth fund of the Singapore government, took control of the telecom conglomerate, a business worth Bt73 billion.

Capital gains arising from stock trading are exempt from personal income tax, according to Securities and Exchange Commission regulations.

Later, the Revenue Department demanded that Thaksin’s children pay Bt11.3 billion from capital gains, based on the difference between the true value of shares they bought and the price they paid.

The Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office Holders ruled to seize Thaksin assets worth Bt46 billion in February 2010. In December of the same year, the Central Tax Court rejected the Revenue Department’s request for payment of tax from Thaksin’s children.

In 2015, the National Anti-Corruption Commission took out a criminal case against former senior tax officials and others, accusing them of helping Thaksin’s children to evade tax.

Last year, the Criminal Court sentenced four former senior tax officials to three years in prison for helping Thaksin’s children dodge tax. The Auditor General then sent a letter to the Finance Minister and head of the Revenue Department, ordering them to collect tax from Thaksin’s family.

They were escorted by Pol Lt Colonel Uthai Waewthaisong, a Klong 5 Police investigator, and temple lawyer Panya Thawornakaranin.

The 10 were among 14 monks summoned to present themselves to Department of Special Investigation (DSI) officers but had failed to do so.

The four monks who have yet to face the charge include former abbot Phra Dhammachayo, Phra Thatthacheevo who claimed to be too ill to come, and two others – Phra Maha Somchai Thanawuttho and Phra Khru Baideeka Amnuaysak Munisako, who said they were preoccupied with monastic errands.

Panya said the monks appealed for justice and asked for an investigation into the delivery of summonses, as they claimed they didn’t know about the summonses and that was why they didn’t report to the DSI as ordered.

Panya also said Phra Dhammachayo actually wanted to surrender but a certain reason, which he did not elaborate on, prevented him from doing so that at this time. He said it was the former abbot’s right to decide when to surrender because the statute of limitations for the moneylaundering case was 15 years.

Meanwhile, life has returned to normal for vendors selling goods along Klong An and those living near the Temple in Pathum Thani following the DSI’s suspension of its longrunning search operation for Phra Dhammachayo. The traffic flow on the road by Klong An is back to normal after police stopped motorists for several weeks at checkpoints set up when the junta declared the temple and Klong Luang Central Market a controlled area.

Army medical officers have also given free checkups to nearby residents, some of whom were under stress and faced inconvenience due to the junta order.

Army chief General Chalermchai Sitthisart, in his capacity as secretarygeneral of the National Council for Peace and Order, said the junta would discuss an amendment to its order at a meeting on Tuesday that allows members of the public to enter and exit the temple as per normal. However, Army officers would still be stationed around the temple despite DSI officers withdrawing, he said.

Also on the agenda at the meeting is a discussion on the results of the 23day search for Phra Dhammachayo.

Prime Minister General Prayut Chanocha said he had heard initial reports that the delegation faced some difficulties explaining human rights practices in Thailand, including in relation to the death penalty.

“Some may question why the death penalty still exists in our country. On the other hand, some Thais also question why some [wrongdoings] are not punishable by death. There is really a fine line in defining legal violations,” he said.

Prayut added that the UN review process proceeded in a “reasonable and academic” way.

Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai said he was not worried about the Kingdom’s rights image although the junta has maintained and practised extrajudicial power.

“It is well perceived that the government has elevated some measures, such as rulings in military court,” he said, referring to the junta elevating the military court’s jurisdiction to cover civilians found to violate lese majeste or “threaten national security”.

The jurisdiction change was enforced last year but not effective retroactively, leaving leftover civilian cases still to be heard in military court.

The coming enactment of the amended charter draft, the multiple uses of the all-powerful Article 44, and the functioning of military courts were included among concerns cited by the United Nations Human Rights Committee in its communication with the Thai delegation on Monday.

The 46-member Thai delegation, headed by Permanent Secretary to Justice Ministry Charnchao Chaiyanukij, travelled to attend the Human Rights Committee’s 119th session to present a report on Thailand’s compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

In the first half of the session held yesterday, Charnchao said, the Thai delegation was also asked about the use of emergency decrees in the deep southern provinces, updates on the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and organic law drafts, about freedom of assembly, and regarding bill drafts on gender equality and violence against women.

The questions also covered the treatment of migrant workers and the disappearances of lawyer Somchai Neelapaijit and Karen land rights activist Porlajee “Billy” Rakchongcharoen, he said.

In a continuing session, the committee was scheduled to pose additional questions about the death penalty, a bill draft on torture and enforced disappearances, prison quality, independence of the courts, the lese majeste law and the enforcement of the computer crime bill.

Charnchao did not elaborate on how Thai delegates had responded to the queries but said that the questioning was carried out “politely and creatively”.

The 46-member Thai delegation’s proceedings are also being observed by representatives from civil society and the NHRC. After the session ends, the committee will issue observations regarding Thailand and five reviewed countries with suggested guidelines.