Pramrudee Tiede said she had been forced to explain that her sister, Premruthai Juseng, 26, who had worked as a flight attendant in Qatar and had a history of depression, took her own life by hanging herself in an airline’s dormitory late December.

Pramrudee, whose nickname is “Nice”, earlier had told a reporter in a telephone interview that she wanted to keep the affair private, mainly to protect her mother’s feelings.

However, her father, Hiabbu Koh, 74, told the media that he believed Premruthai, whose nickname was “Ice”, had been murdered in her room in Qatar and called on the Thai Foreign Ministry to help investigate the cause of her death.

He said his daughter looked happy when she talked to him in Line message chats. “We talked to each other everyday. She was very happy after she became a flight attendant, the job she had dreamed about for a long time.”

Pramrudee wrote on Facebook that initially she had not wanted to say anything about her sister, who was resting in peace, but she decided to go public to protect her, her mother and the Thai Embassy in Doha.

“My father’s interview with the press was groundless. Ice was not murdered, but she had suffered from depression, resulting in her deciding to take her own life.”

Pramruedee, who is based in Berlin, said she had been alerted about the tragedy by the Thai Embassy in Doha and then she had told her mother, who was in Bangkok. Hiabbu had been separated from her mother for years.

She and her mother then travelled to Doha, she said, where Thai diplomats and the airline’s staff brought them to see her sister’s body.

Police also gave them a letter written by Premruthai, she said, the details of which she would not reveal. However, a source said Premruthai had written down private information concerning her bank accounts.

“Before the day she died, she wrote to me via Whatsapp, saying “I love you sister Nice. Tell mom also.”

Doha police concluded the cause of the death was asphyxiation by hanging.

The two women spent seven days in Doha arranging for Premruthai’s body to be transported to Thailand and during their stay the Thai Embassy and the airline firm took good care of them and helped facilitate the process despite language barriers, Pramrudee said.

“The airline also provided support for our expenses during our stay and procedures to bring her home,” Pramrudee wrote.

She also wrote that she wanted to apologise to everybody that may have been caused trouble because of her father’s allegations.

Meanwhile, Hiabbu yesterday met Foreign Ministry Consular Affairs director-general Chatree Atjananun and his deputy Pattarat Hongthong to seek information about the death of his daughter.

After a two-hour meeting, the father said he still did not believe that his daughter had committed suicide and had submitted a petition for the department to prove the real cause of death.

“My eldest daughter [Premrudee] can write whatever she wants, that’s her right. I have not yet seen the suicide note she mentioned, but what the officials told me was that it was about the location of her belongings and assets,” he said.

The death certificate mentioned only that she had died from asphyxiation and did not contain details about her having been hanged, Hiabbu said.

Premruthai was dead so it was not right to blame depression, he added.

Chatree had promised to make more inquires about the cause of death, Hiabbu said, adding that he wanted Qatari authorities to be direct in handling the case.

However, he said he was worried that if the investigation concluded that Premruthai had killed herself, he would be unable to come to terms with the conclusion.

Police were checking information provided by Nicha Kiatthanapaiboon, including the origin of Bt6 million in her bank accounts and why she had applied for new ID cards several times, Kampol said.

A police source said Nicha’s younger brother had also been questioned separately on Sunday as police tried to verify information related to the case.

However, Deputy Police Spokesman Pol Colonel Krissana Pattanacharoen yesterday was still reluctant to say that Nicha, a private company worker, was an innocent victim of a crime pending a Crime Suppression Division (CSD) probe.

Earlier Nicha had been detained for three days over fraud charges before being released on bail.

Krissana said Nicha was still considered a fraud suspect by Ban Tak police investigators in Tak province in connection to a romantic scam involving a foreign man, who allegedly had duped a Tak woman out of Bt1.3 million. Some of the money involved had been deposited in and then withdrawn from a bank account under Nicha’s name, he added.

Nicha was also a damaged party in regards to a police complaint in which she claimed her ID card had been stolen and misused, and CSD officers were investigating that case, he said.

A suspect in that identify theft, Paveena Singhawibul, 31, was arrested on Sunday and faces three charges of theft, identity theft in order to open bank accounts and forgery, Krissana said, adding that she had also given useful information after another 12-hour interrogation session.

Paveena reportedly confessed to the crime and claimed that a foreign man identified only as Simon had promised to pay her Bt10,000 for opening the bank accounts, Krissana said.

Simon had also already been arrested over suspicion of fraud but he had not been charged in relation to the Tak fraud case, he added.

Immigration Police spokesman Pol Maj-General Ittipol Ittisarnronnachai said an African man identified as Simon had been arrested at a bank in the Ratchadapisek area over suspicion of fraud and transferred to Huai Kwang police for further questioning.

A police source said investigators would later yesterday question a female inmate at a Nakhon Pathom prison, Jerati Saisin, who was accused of giving Nicha’s ID card to Paveena.

Police also planned to make an announcement on the case during a press conference today.

AS MANY as 20 state officials have become suspects over alleged illegal activities connected to the Victoria’s: The Secret Forever massage parlour.

An ongoing investigation has revealed that the massage parlour had engaged in prostitution employing sex workers, including those younger than 15 years old.

Deputy National Police Commissioner Pol General Srivara Ransibrahmanakul said yesterday that the case would be treated as a human-trafficking case.

“All those involved will be charged,” he said.

A joint team from the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) and the military raided Victoria’s: The Secret Forever massage parlour last Friday, rounding up 113 sex workers on the premises.

After the raid, five senior policemen at the Wang Thong Lang Police Station – whose jurisdiction covers the massive massage parlour in Bangkok – were transferred.

A special taskforce from the Provincial Administration Department yesterday officially informed the Office of Public-Sector Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) that 20 officials were suspected of wrongdoing in the massage-parlour case.

PACC staff said the commission would review the list of names and supporting evidence before coordinating with relevant authorities for further action.

Kongrob Kratumnad from the Provincial Administration Department said multidisciplinary teams had already interviewed the 113 women and girls rounded up in the raid.

The teams had concluded that some had clearly been lured into prostitution, he said, adding that that most of them were foreigners.

Srivara said female foreigners working at massage parlour had held temporary permits to stay and work in Thailand, so police would investigate further as to whether the case constituted a cross-border prostitution ring and to determine who else had been involved.

“We will take actions against the massage parlour’s owner, licence holder, manager, procurer, cashiers and agents that bring alleged human-trafficking victims to the place,” he said.

DSI deputy chief Pol Colonel Songsak Raksaksakul said his agency had clear evidence that human traffickers had lured underage girls, most of whom were foreigners, into prostitution.

12-year-olds victimised

“The victims were sent to several entertainment venues including Victoria’s: The Secret Forever,” he said.

Pol Lt-General Dr Vitoon Nitivarangkul of the Police Hospital said his institute had already conducted lab tests on 27 alleged victims from the parlour.

“Of them, three are apparently younger than 15 years old,” he said.

He said 12 others were older than 18, judging by test results, and the rest could be younger or older as bone-mass and dental tests had been inconclusive.

Pol Lt-Colonel Supat Thamthanarug, who heads the DSI Bureau of Human Trafficking Crime, said his agency had begun investigating the massage parlour early last year.

“It started from a complaint filed by women who successfully fled from brothels in Malaysia,” he said.

The victims initially lodged a complaint with a foundation before the DSI decided to step in, Supat said.

“They then told us that they had been forced into the flesh trade when they were just between 12 and 13 years old at Victoria’s: The Secret Forever. After spending a few years there, they were sent to Malaysia,” Supat said.

At present, six suspects are in detention after they were arrested following last Friday’s raid.

Meanwhile, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Pol Lt-General Chanthep Sesavej said Wang Thong Lang Police Station superintendent Pol Colonel Thammanoon Boonruang had already responded to a transfer order but denied that he had used services at the massage parlour.

“He claimed he was with his family at the time records found at the place suggested he had dropped in to use its services,” Chanthep said.

DSI chief Pol Colonel Paisit Wongmuang said he had checked safe-deposit boxes at the massage parlour and found documents and cash inside.

“We will pore over evidence and investigate the financial records of suspects involved the crimes,” he said.

The survey conducted among 23,200 respondents including 10,000 students discovered that they believed personal attention and equal treatment from teachers were the key factors affecting their learning.

They also hoped caring teachers would be always available to give them advice.

Dr Amornwich Nakornthap, who heads the School Quality Improvement Program (SQIP) research project, released the findings yesterday – one day ahead of National Teachers’ Day.

Responding to the survey were 10,000 Prathom 6, Mathayom 3 and Mathayom 6 students, 4,000 teachers, 200 school executives and 9,000 parents.

The survey found that children complained how little attention their family gave to their studies.

They also admitted their relationships with friends and their own habits affected their learning results.

File photo

Parents, meanwhile, were found to have recognised that spending insufficient time helping their children with their studies could hurt their learning.

According to the survey, both parents and teachers believe their lack of familiarity with each other might also affect students.

“There are gaps between students and teachers, gaps between students and their parents, gaps between teachers and school executives, and gaps between teachers and parents,” a report on the survey results noted.

Amornwich said those gaps could be narrowed, and relevant parties should play their part in doing so.

“It’s a way to turn schools into happy learning places,” he said.

Amornwich said adults should act on their awareness that children wanted love, care and understanding.

Nakorn Tangkapipope, who participates in the SQIP project, said 201 schools had joined the project during the past year.

“The project is increasing quality and happiness at participating schools,” he said.

This initiative has actively engaged parents, teachers, students and schools by promoting professional learning communities and growth mindsets, Nakorn said.

Sunisa Sereerat, a Mathayom 6 student at a participating school, said her teachers had recently started adjusting their teaching methods.

“They have now taught us via games and interesting activities. I feel closer to teachers and have more courage to ask questions when I don’t understand something,” she said.

Sunisa added that she wanted to come to school not just because of her friends, but also for the learning activities.

The survey conducted among 23,200 respondents including 10,000 students discovered that they believed personal attention and equal treatment from teachers were the key factors affecting their learning.

They also hoped caring teachers would be always available to give them advice.

Dr Amornwich Nakornthap, who heads the School Quality Improvement Program (SQIP) research project, released the findings yesterday – one day ahead of National Teachers’ Day.

Responding to the survey were 10,000 Prathom 6, Mathayom 3 and Mathayom 6 students, 4,000 teachers, 200 school executives and 9,000 parents.

The survey found that children complained how little attention their family gave to their studies.

They also admitted their relationships with friends and their own habits affected their learning results.

Parents, meanwhile, were found to have recognised that spending insufficient time helping their children with their studies could hurt their learning.

According to the survey, both parents and teachers believe their lack of familiarity with each other might also affect students.

“There are gaps between students and teachers, gaps between students and their parents, gaps between teachers and school executives, and gaps between teachers and parents,” a report on the survey results noted.

Amornwich said those gaps could be narrowed, and relevant parties should play their part in doing so.

“It’s a way to turn schools into happy learning places,” he said.

Amornwich said adults should act on their awareness that children wanted love, care and understanding.

Nakorn Tangkapipope, who participates in the SQIP project, said 201 schools had joined the project during the past year.

“The project is increasing quality and happiness at participating schools,” he said.

This initiative has actively engaged parents, teachers, students and schools by promoting professional learning communities and growth mindsets, Nakorn said.

Sunisa Sereerat, a Mathayom 6 student at a participating school, said her teachers had recently started adjusting their teaching methods.

“They have now taught us via games and interesting activities. I feel closer to teachers and have more courage to ask questions when I don’t understand something,” she said.

Sunisa added that she wanted to come to school not just because of her friends, but also for the learning activities.

Pramrudee Tiede said she had been forced to explain that her sister, Premruthai Juseng, who had worked as a flight attendant in Qatar and had a history of depression, took her own life by hanging herself in an airline’s dormitory late December.

Pramrudee, whose nickname is “Nice”, earlier had told a reporter in a telephone interview that she wanted to keep the affair private, mainly to protect her mother’s feelings.

However, her father, Hiabbu Koh, 74, told the media that he believed Premruthai, whose nickname was “Ice”, had been murdered in her room in Qatar and called on the Thai Foreign Ministry to help investigate the cause of her death.

He said his daughter looked happy when she talked to him in Line message chats. “We talked to each other every day. She was very happy after she became a flight attendant, the job she had dreamed about for a long time.”

Pramrudee wrote on Facebook that initially she had not wanted to say anything about her sister, who was resting in peace, but she decided to go public to protect her, her mother and the Thai Embassy in Doha.

“My father’s interview with the press was groundless. Ice was not murdered, but she had suffered from depression, resulting in her deciding to take her own life.”

Pramruedee, who is based in Berlin, said she had been alerted about the tragedy by the Thai Embassy in Doha and then she had told her mother, who was in Bangkok. Hiabbu had been separated from her mother for years.

She and her mother then travelled to Doha, she said, where Thai diplomats and the airline’s staff brought them to see her sister’s body.

Police also gave them a letter written by Premruthai, she said, the details of which she would not reveal. However, a source said Premruthai had written down private information concerning her bank accounts.

“Before the day she died, she wrote to me via Whatsapp, saying “I love you sister Nice. Tell mom also.”

Doha police concluded the cause of the death was asphyxiation by hanging.

The two women spent seven days in Doha arranging for Premruthai’s body to be transported to Thailand and during their stay the Thai Embassy and the airline firm took good care of them and helped facilitate the process despite language barriers, Pramrudee said.

“The airline also provided support for our expenses during our stay and procedures to bring her home,” Pramrudee wrote.

She also wrote that she wanted to apologise to everybody that may have been caused trouble because of her father’s allegations.

The programmes have failed to meet the criteria expected by Ohec for two consecutive years, the 2015 and 2016 academic years.

Ohec secretary general Dr Supat Jampathong said on Monday that in reviewing 9,099 existing programmes, his agency found 182 to be substandard.

“We need to protect the interests of students and parents. So, we are going to release the list of substandard programmes on our website, http://www.mua.go.th,” Supat said.

He added that Ohec would also ask educational institutes providing these programmes to stop recruiting new students.

“For the programmes that still have students, they must ensure their operations are in line with Ohec standards within 90 days,” Supat said.

The most common problem is the lack of an adequate number of qualified lecturers for the programmes.

Pinit was the second Thai national confirmed to have died in the mudslide after the body of his six-year-old son, Peerawat Sutthithepa, was found last week. The Sheriff’s Office on Monday raised the total number of fatalities to 20.

The local online news agency Edhat reported that Pinit’s body had been found in the area of Hot Springs Road near Olive Mill Road during search and recovery efforts on Sunday. His two-year-old daughter Lydia is still missing.

Pinit’s stepfather, Richard Loring Taylor, 79, was also killed in the fatal mudslide.

Edhat reported that Peerawat, who was affectionately known as “Pasta”, was at home with his step-grandfather Taylor, his father Pinit and sister Lydia when the mudslide hit their East Valley Road home. Pinit’s wife and grandmother were working outside of the house when the mudslide hit and are safe.

A GoFundMe account has been created for the family.

The news agency Agence France-Presse reported that search and rescue teams were continuing to comb the area in the aftermath of the deadly mudslide.

Four people remained missing, according to an update posted on Santa Barbara County’s website, which warned that the figure could “fluctuate significantly”.

“The unstable environment remains a critical threat to civilians and responders. The large amounts of mud and debris are making access and progress challenging,” the joint statement from several state and local agencies said.

“Search and rescue remains the highest priority.”

The slide left 28 people injured and destroyed 65 homes and eight businesses in Montecito, a town east of the city of Santa Barbara. Many more buildings were damaged or threatened.

Heavy rain on Tuesday, which followed 10 months of drought, sent rivers of mud and debris flowing down the hills into Montecito.

Massive wildfires in the area forced evacuations in December, and the mudslides struck just two weeks after people returned.

The fires burned most vegetation, creating hazardous conditions for the latest disaster to unfold.

Chalermchai, arriving the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) Region 4 Front Command conference room within Sirindhorn Camp at 9am, was welcomed by Fourth Army Area Commander Lt-General Piyawat Nakwanit and others.

In his capacity as ISOC deputy director, Chalermchai aimed to visit officers performing duties in the three southernmost provinces, and follow up on progress in tackling unrest, including results of key operations. He also outlined a policy for the security officers to boost their work effectiveness.

Chalermchai’s team was scheduled to visit the 49th Rangers Regiment command in Narathiwat’s Sri Sakhon district and the 48th Rangers Regiment command in Narathiwat’s Joh I Rong district on Monday afternoon before departing for Bangkok.

On Sunday, Chalermchai visited the 42nd Rangers Regiment command in Pattani’s Panare district before staying overnight at Sirindhorn Camp.

Police believe Polsak Boonreung has remained in the Northeast since the killing of Weerachai “Sia Kim” Loariyathanachote last week.

Bua Yai district police superintendent Pol Colonel Kharom Boonsod said on Monday 10 witnesses had been interviewed and an arrest warrant for Polsak had been obtained.

He said investigators were convinced that Polsak was linked to the murder and believe it stemmed from a personal conflict.

Kharom said locations around the Northeast where Polsak might be staying with friends were being searched.

Weerachai, 41, was shot seven times in the torso while driving his pickup truck home. His girlfriend, riding with him, was unharmed.

Weerachai managed to complete the 150-metre drive home and was then taken to hospital, where he died.

Possible motives include a conflict with three individuals whom Weerachai sued four years ago for trying to kill him.

Two of his attackers were jailed, but the third suspect in the attack – Polsak – was free on bail, having meanwhile lost his job.

Late last year he failed to appear for the reading of the verdict against him in Supreme Court. The court sentenced him in absentia to 18 months in prison.