“If we don’t make the move, we may be seen as being negligent and, in the end, copycats may follow,” he said one day after almost 150 organisations issued a joint statement condemning the government over the actions against the People Go Network.

Because of the NCPO complaint, eight leaders of the network have been summoned to meet police on Sunday.

These leaders joined a rally on January 20 at Thammasat University’s Rangsit Campus, from where the “We Walk” march started. Organisers say the march – which is due to cover a distance of 450 kilometres and end in Khon Kaen province on February 17 – is being held to bring attention to the need for state welfare, universal healthcare, food security, freedom of expression, human rights and a just society for all.

“We are ready to listen to the people’s network. It’s just you should avoid violating laws and work with us in jointly creating an atmosphere for talks,” Sansern said.

To avoid violating the NCPO order that bans the gathering of more than five persons, the We Walk march features no more than four marchers at any one time. However, Saturday’s rally did attract more than 150 people.

In spite of authorities’ actions against the march organisers, We Walk activities have still attracted support.

Yesterday, prominent peace advocate Gothom Arya joined the march. And Bangkok people have been invited to join We Walk activities at Lumpini Park in Bangkok every Sunday during the march period.

Supporters are expected to start walking around the park at 5pm and end their walk at 6.30pm.

Bua Yai district superintendent Pol Colonel Kharom Boonsod said yesterday that the initial probe, as per the region chief Pol Lt-General Damrongsak Kittiprapat’s order, would be complete within three days.

If the accused school director was deemed guilty, police would file a charge under the Criminal Code’s Section 317 of taking away a minor under 15 from the parent/guardian.

This is punishable with imprisonment of three to 15 years and a fine of Bt6,000-Bt30,000, he said.

Ban Patong Thanoen Samakkee School director Nathapop Boonthongtho – who was transferred immediately on Tuesday to an inactive post pending a disciplinary panel investigation – has not been seen this week. Nor has the girl, although her mother said she was staying with a relative in Sakhon Nakhon.

The girl’s 40-year-old mother, whose name was withheld to protect the girl’s identity, yesterday insisted she didn’t believe her daughter would behave in this way. She also said that an “unfair” allegation had been brought forward “against an innocent teenage girl” by the mother of the girl’s Mathayom 3 ex-boyfriend.

She said she would wait to hear from her daughter about what really happened and would not take any legal action against the school director yet.

The Nakhon Ratchasima Primary Education Service Area Office 6’s fact-finding probe into the allegations should be complete by next week, said office director Sanong Sudsa-ard.

If there has been wrongdoing, the case would be forwarded to the provincial education office to launch a serious disciplinary probe against Nathapop, he said.

This could lead to him being fired from the civil service without pension or benefits if deemed guilty.

Sanong also addressed questions about claims that Nathapop had conducted an inappropriate relationship with a Prathom 6 student at his previous school.

Sanong said Nathapop was found to have inappropriately touched the girl and was punished with a 5 per cent salary reduction for two months plus a transfer to this school. He said Nathapop had settled the case with that student’s family, although he didn’t elaborate.

Education office deputy director Supapongsa Chantharang, who led the investigation’s preliminary fact-finding panel, said yesterday that his team had interviewed four members of the school committee, the ex-boyfriend and two close friends of the girl.

They had found some grounds suggesting Nathapop had demonstrated inappropriate behaviour towards the girl. He said Nathapop allegedly paid special attention to the girl and often took her out alone. Supapongsa said the team would interview more teachers and students to get more details.

He urged the girl to talk to his team so they “could directly hear from the damaged person”. Nathapop should also explain his side of story to ensure justice to all parties, Supapongsa said.

Nathapop has called in sick and has not yet presented himself for his new duties at Nakhon Ratchasima Primary Education Service Area Office 6.

THE DEPARTMENT of Special Investigation (DSI) has pushed for the freezing of bank accounts related to Victoria’s: The Secret Forever massage parlour, which has allegedly engaged in human trafficking and prostitution.

DSI deputy chief Pol Colonel Songsak Raksaksakul revealed yesterday that these bank accounts involved more than Bt100 million.

“We have already asked the Anti-Money Laundering Office [AMLO] to contact relevant banks to have these accounts frozen,” Songsak said. “We believe the AMLO is in process of acting on our request.”

A source at the AMLO, meanwhile, confirmed that the agency was now reviewing financial routes and transactions related to Victoria’s, its de-facto owner Kampol Weerathepsuporn, his wife Nipa, and related figures.

According to a source at the DSI, some cash had been taken out of the bank accounts of Kampol and Nipa just before the arrest warrants for the couple were issued last Friday.

Kampol and Nipa remain on the run. Kampol’s sister, Sasithorn Weerathepsuporn, who on paper is the owner of the massage parlour, is already in detention.

DSI is now trying to track down Kampol, who is also a major shareholder of several listed companies.

In a related development, a police source said that the Metropolitan Police Bureau (MPB) would close down 12 night-time entertainment venues under its jurisdiction because they had violated laws. These included those operating without proper licences, welcoming underage patrons and selling alcoholic beverages to customers younger than 20.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Pol Lt-General Chanthep Sesavej yesterday said he had instructed relevant teams to submit more information so that the list of the places to be closed down could be finalised at a meeting next Tuesday.

A source said police also checked all massage parlours in Bangkok in wake of the Victoria’s scandal to determine if they had illegally used groundwater. “Water samples collected from the places suggest three or four massage parlours might have used groundwater,” it said.

Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Division deputy commander Pol Colonel Suwat Intasit yesterday said that, as was the case at Victoria’s, water from Long Beach massage parlour, for example, was of a far different quality to tap water provided by the Metropolitan Waterworks Authority.

“We suspect that Long Beach massage parlour might have illegally used groundwater for several years,” he said.

Such illegal use is punishable by both a jail term and a fine.

On its Facebook page, the embassy said the eruption that started on January 13 has forced Philippine authorities to evacuate tens of thousands of people from the area.

Tourists and people were told not to go near Mayon, which is in Legazpi, Albay province, about 450 kilometres from Manila, as there could possibly be landslides, rock falls and dangerous lava flows.

The embassy recommends that Thais avoid travelling to the dangerous areas around the Mayon until the Philippines cancels the risk level that has been recently upgraded from three to four.

Tourists were told to keep up with news and information from the Philippine authorities

The mother, whose name was withheld to protect the girl’s identity, said she didn’t believe her daughter would behave that way, and that an “unfair” allegation had been brought forward “against an innocent teenage girl” by the mother of the girl’s Mathayom 3 ex-boyfriend.

She said she would wait to hear from the daughter about what really happened, and would not take any legal action against the school director yet.

Meanwhile, Ban Patong Thanoen Samakkee School director Nathapop Boonthongtho – who was transferred immediately on Tuesday to an inactive post pending a disciplinary panel investigation – has not been seen this week. Nor has the girl, whose 40-year-old mother said was currently staying with a relative in Sakhon Nakhon.

The Nakhon Ratchasima Primary Education Service Area Office 6 has launched an investigation into the allegation, which could lead to the man’s dismissal from the civil service. He might also face criminal charges if deemed guilty.

Education office deputy director Supapongsa Chantharang, who led the investigation’s preliminary fact-finding panel, said on Wednesday that his team had interviewed four members of the school committee, the ex-boyfriend and two close friends to the girl. They had found some grounds suggesting Nathapop had demonstrated inappropriate behaviour towards the girl.

He said Nathapop allegedly paid special attention to the girl and often took her out alone. Supapongsa said the team would interview more teachers and students to get details.

He urged the girl to talk to his team so they “could directly hear from the damaged person”. Nathapop should also explain his side of story to ensure justice to all parties, Supapongsa said.

Nathapop has called in sick and has not presented himself for his new duties at Nakhon Ratchasima Primary Education Service Area Office 6.

The State Enterprise Policy Office (Sepo) on Wednesday issued a statement to confirm and clarify a report that the Finance Ministry holds shares in operators of massage parlours.

Sepo said the Anti-Money Laundering Office transferred the shares to the Finance Ministry in 2012 as a result of convictions of a wrongdoer related to the sex industry.

The ministry holds about 0.5-2 per cent of four companies: Davis Diamond Star, Davis Copacabana, Davis Golden Star and Davis Silver Star.

The ministry does not receive any investment return, nor does it engage with management. The ministry plans to sell the shares in the first quarter of this year, according to the statement.

This is because Bt10,000 was recently withdrawn from the deceased man’s bank account via another bank’s ATM, said provincial police chief Pol Maj-General Thawatchai Muannara on Wednesday.

Although the French boyfriend had previously been blacklisted from entering Thailand, he still came in via a natural border channel. This means he cannot leave the country through immigration checkpoints without raising a red flag, police said.

Police suspect that another three people in the area might have been involved in the killing or have assisted the couple, Thawatchai said.

Rujira Eiumlamai, 38, and her French boyfriend, identified only as Hamuari, 34, fled following the discovery of body parts partially burned in the ashes of a bonfire of rubber tyres in a wooded area near Bung Thab Chan Pond in Tambon Laemran last Friday. These were later confirmed to belong to Rujira’s ex-husband, Giuseppe de Stefani, 61.

Thawatchai said police had interviewed 10 witnesses and obtained information that the tyres used in burning de Stefani’s body parts might be from the French man’s rented house in Pho Prathab Chang district. They also learned that a five-litre gasoline container was missing from Rujira’s house in Bung Narang.

Dolev Zuarez, 24, and Eyal Bokal, 26, were arrested at Bangkok’s Don Mueang Airport about five hours after they allegedly killed Maor Mallil, 34, and injured his girlfriend, Rashel Oshana, in broad daylight close to popular Chaweng Beach.

Police said the suspects drove their SUV into a motorcycle carrying Mallil and Oshana in front of Samui International Hospital. The suspects then allegedly stabbed Mallil, who was pronounced dead at a hospital.

The suspects fled in the SUV.

Police said the attack was in revenge for Mallil’s attack on the suspects, which took place in Israel. Mallil was jailed for 20 months for that crime. On his release, he travelled to Thailand, and the suspects followed him.

The duo will lead police to the crime scene in front of Samui International Hospital and then to Koh Samui International College, where they left the SUV, and to their rented room.

Deputy national police chief Pol General Chalermkiat Srivorakan will travel to Samui to observe the reenactment.

The TDRI yesterday disclosed the results of a study on predicted public healthcare spending as it urged the government to plan for preventative healthcare and a health system for the elderly to reduce expenses.

While revealing that healthcare costs will reach Bt1.407 trillion on average by 2032, the TDRI said that if the government does not plan ahead to contain expenses, the figure could reach Bt1.825 trillion.

Nuttanan Wichitaksorn, the study’s lead researcher, said Thailand’s health expenses were rising rapidly from 10 per cent of total government spending in 2002 to 13 per cent since 2007.

“From our research to predict the health expenses of the country during the next 15 years per the OECD’s [Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development] measurements, we found that the cost of healthcare would [normally] rise to about Bt480 billion to Bt630 billion, but due to the trend of the ageing society in Thailand, this cost will increase to [between] Bt1.4 trillion and Bt1.8 trillion,” Nuttanan said.

He said individuals’ healthcare expenses could increase by up to 350 per cent. Based on the data, he urged the government to plan ahead to cope with an ageing society and associated health problems by promoting preventative healthcare and measures focused on senior citizens in the future. Such measures could save as much as Bt505 billion by 2032.

Nuttanan said the reasons for the massive increase in health expenses were changes in demographics towards an ageing society. The study found that non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity will be major health threats for seniors and require large budgets to treat effectively.

The study found that elderly people were the major group of patients suffering from NCDs in the Universal Health Coverage scheme and Civil Servant Medical Benefit scheme.

Nuttanan suggested that people should take care of their health by exercising regularly and eating healthy food, while authorities should promote good health because NCDs were preventable and mainly caused by bad habits in everyday life.

The study also found that unnecessary expenses in private hospitals were another factor that caused high health expenses for some individuals.

Nuttanan said middle-income people could access a wider range of healthcare from private hospitals, but they also had to pay the most in relation to their income, compared to people who had both lower and higher incomes.

“We are not satisfied with the probe [by the Royal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters],” Pichet Tanyakan said yesterday.

His 18-year-old son, Phakhapong “Meay” Tanyakan, died in suspicious circumstances. In the days before his fatal acute cardiac arrest, he was exposed to improper punishment at the AFAPS.

The inquiry, which started in response to an order from Supreme Commander General Thanchaiyan Srisuwan, confirmed that senior students inappropriately punished Phakhapong yet insisted that the cadet’s death was related to health problems – not the punishment.

Phakhapong’s family yesterday met the chair of the committee that conducted the probe, ACM Chawarat Marungruang, to listen to explanations. Chawarat said the family had raised questions, particularly in regard to the cause of Phakhapong’s death and bruises found on his body.

He said his committee members planned to further discuss the autopsy results provided by the Central Institute of Forensic Science and the opinions of doctors at the Phramongkutklao Hospital. The hospital conducted the first autopsy while the institute conducted a second.

“The family has agreed that we should have more meetings,” Chawarat said. He added that the family had also expressed the wish to obtain a copy of the inquiry-result documents.

“Today’s meeting went well. We hope to present facts that prove acceptable to both sides,” Chawarat said.

However, after emerging from the meeting, Pichet said that he had still had some doubts about his son’s death and would take legal action. Phakhapong’s mother, Sukanya, said the same.

Despite the scandal over Phakhapong’s death, the AFAPS – which has taught several Thai prime ministers, including the incumbent General Prayut Chan-o-cha – has remained a prestigious institute.

Next Monday, it will celebrate its 60th anniversary, with Prayut, Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister General Prawit Wongsuwon and military chiefs expected to turn up to celebrate at their alma mater.