The province has been implementing a 15-day or 21-day visa waiver policy for group visitors from 26 countries since 2010. Under the new policy, individuals from 59 countries can visit the province for 30 days visa-free as long as they book their tour through travel agencies.

Countries benefiting from the policy include Russia, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Norway, Ukraine, Italy, Austria, Finland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Poland, Portugal, Ireland, the United States, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Kazakhstan, the Philippines, Indonesia, and the UAE.

IN A rare admission, Thai security tzar Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan said yesterday there was a possibility that the Islamic State (IS) was trying to establish a cell in the country.

His remarks follow a report that Malaysian authorities were hunting for a Narathiwat native, suspected to be the mastermind of an extremist group. “There could be an attempt to come to Thailand but we are ready to defend ourselves,” Prawit said. “Like in other countries, they might try to set up a cell in Thailand but we can prevent that.”

The Malaysian report said that four IS members, suspected of planning attacks on non-Muslim places of worship, had fled to the deep South. Three of them were Malaysians and one a Thai national.

Two of the suspects were Muhamad Faizal Muhamad Hanafi and Muhamad Hanafi Yah, both from Kelantan state in Malaysia. A third suspect is Nor Farkhan Mohd Isa, whose address was given as Taman Ungku Tun Aminah in Skudai, southern Johor, according to The Straits Times.

The Thai suspect – Awae Wae-Eya – reportedly lives in the southernmost Narathiwat province, one of the violence hotspots.

Media reports earlier said that six members of the IS cell had been arrested between February 27 and March 1. But four others were still on the run. Malaysia Police said the men were “dangerous” and “capable of launching attacks that could pose a threat to national security”.

Intelligence circles in Malaysia said they believe Awae is the group’s mastermind, based on interrogation of the six men arrested, and that he is trying to establish an IS cell in southern Thailand.

However, Thai security authorities yesterday tried to play down the threat, saying Awae was just a self-promoting figure who loved to claim linkage with IS to get attention in social media.

“He is unemployed, an Internet troll but definitely has no connection with IS,” the spokesman of Internal Security Operations Command (Isoc), Pramot Promin, said. Awae’s record is quite clean, as he has never been involved in any violent incidents in the deep South, Pramot said. The Isoc forward command has already reported to the Fourth Army Region Commander Lt-General Piyawat Nakwanich about the man, he said.

Thai authorities would collaborate with Malaysia to compare intelligence information about the movement of militants on the ground, Pramot said.

National police chief Chakthip Chaijinda said police were investigating the case and have regularly exchan-ged information with Malaysian counterparts. Southeast Asia has been dreading the growth of IS cells. IS is reported to have some cells and key figures operating in the region and the group is know to have recruited many fighters from Southeast Asia.

Scholar Srisompob Jitpiromsri from Prince of Songkla University, Pattani Campus, said based on his study there was no solid evidence to prove any move to create or of the presence of an IS cell in the deep South. The nature and ideologies of IS and militants in the South are different, he said.

“Some individual insurgents in the South might be inspired by ISIS, but there is no solid connection with the extremist groups,” he said.

The federal police force said in a statement that a record 1,500 officers swooped on more than 60 brothels and flats in 12 of Germany’s 16 states.

Prosecutors have 56 suspects in their sights, 41 of them women.

Authorities say a “core group” of 17 suspects “smuggled Thai women and transsexuals into Germany with fraudulent” visas for the passport-free Schengen zone.

Those brought to Germany “had to hand over 100 percent of their wages to the operators of the respective ‘massage parlours’ to pay off their smuggling fee”, an extortionate sum of between 16,000 and 36,000 euros ($20,000-45,000).

Seven of the accused, including a 59-year-old Thai woman and her 62-year-old German partner, were taken into custody on outstanding arrest warrants.

Beyond human trafficking, forced prostitution, procurement and embezzlement of wages, the ringleaders also face charges of tax evasion, a spokesman for the Frankfurt prosecutor’s office, Alexander Badle, told reporters.

Some of the suspects could face up to 15 years in prison.

Prosecutors in Frankfurt, who have been working with police on the case since February 2017, estimate that the ring drew more than one million euros in income.

– ‘Specialised’ in transsexual prostitutes –

Interior Minister Horst Seehofer praised the operation as an “unprecedented strike against a national organised crime network”.

“Several hundred women and men were at the mercy of the inhumane, boundless greed of human smugglers for years and across borders,” he said.

“This unscrupulous behaviour and the sexual exploitation on an abominable scale were put to an end today.”

Badle said the ring had “specialised” in a niche for transsexual prostitutes in Germany’s vast sex industry.

He said that while the Thai victims were aware that they were being taken to German brothels, they were duped about the “conditions, including the fact that they would receive virtually no remuneration”.

They were brought to Europe on tourist visas that explicitly prohibited work, and spoke no German, leaving them particularly vulnerable to exploitation, Badle added.

He said immigration authorities would now examine the victims’ legal status to determine how long they could stay in Germany.

Prostitution is legal in Germany but heavily regulated and taxed. However a 2002 law intended to improve the legal footing for sex workers has failed to stamp out mass-scale trafficking.

Thailand has a famously permissive attitude toward the so-called third sex people or “ladyboys”, but its laws still refuse to recognise their sexual identity, rooting discrimination in the bureaucracy.

Sex work, drugs and stigma combine with a lack of healthcare to push many of the country’s estimated 180,000 third sex people to the “social, economic and legal” margins”, a 2012 study by the United Nations Development Programme found.

It said HIV prevalence rates among transgender people across the Asia-Pacific region could be as high as 49 percent — a rate that “far exceeds (that of) the general population”.//AFP

Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Argo Yuwono said the police had arrested Petrus Paulus Ualubun, 21, at his relative’s house in Cikarang, West Java, on Tuesday morning.

“The suspect was mad at the victim when the latter added him to an LGBT WhatsApp group, as the suspect [claimed not to be a part of that community],” Argo said on Tuesday as reported by kompas.com.

“The suspect invited the victim to meet, then assaulted and killed him,” Argo said.

The Unesco executive board, in Paris yesterday, endorsed 13 new sites from around the world that showed distinctive geological, ecological, archaeological and cultural values as new Unesco Global Geoparks.

Satun Geopark in the South of Thailand was among seven other geoparks in the Asia-Pacific. The others are: Cao Bang, Vietnam; Ciletuh -Palabuhanratu and Rinjani-Lombok, Indonesia; Guangwushan-Nuoshuihe and Huanggang Dabieshan, China; Izu Peninsula, Japan; and Mudeungsan Area, South Korea.

According to Unesco’s statement, the Satun Geopark, which covers an area of 2,597.21 square kilometres in four districts of Satun province, was recognised as the new Unesco Global Geopark for both its diverse geological and cultural heritage as well as efforts at the site to promote conservation, education and tourism best practices in a holistic manner.

Unesco said the Satun Geopark consisted of more than 500 million years of geological and natural history, as abundant fossils of early organisms such as trilobites, brachiopods, and stromatolites from the Paleozoic Era as well as diversified Karst topography can be found at this park.

Besides the park’s significance for geology and natural science, Unesco also pointed out that the Satun Geopark is home to many ethnic groups with rich cultural traditions, such as the Maniq and Urak Lawoi, which signify humanity’s strong bonds to the land.

Currently, Unesco Global Geoparks Network covers 140 geoparks in 38 countries, including 58 geoparks in the Asia-Pacific region.

Somboon Khamhang, a local environmentalist in Satun, stated that this was a great achievement for all stakeholders who have been campaigning for the Unesco Global Geopark nomination since 2011.

Somboon stressed that the geopark still faces a threat from the development of the Pakbara Seaport, planned within the area of the geopark, which may cause severe environmental impacts.

“The government has to decide which path of development they want: to proceed with the deepwater seaport project or sustainable development of the Satun Geopark to meet global standards?” he said.

One of Phnom Penh’s new water taxis makes its inaugural trip last week. Ministry of Public Works and Transport/Facebook

While Cambodia has a much smaller operation than the Thai setup – as of now, only three boats ferry passengers to four stops in Phnom Penh and nearby Takhmao City – that didn’t put a damper on passengers’ moods on a recent voyage.

“It is my first time to ride on the boat, I am excited and happy to get free rides,” said Noem Somary. She was waiting with her father and son at the Phsar Chas ferry stop, preparing for a multi-generational voyage on the country’s first public water taxi.

With nowhere in particular to go, Somary said she planned to ride the boat to its endpoint and then head back into the city over land.

“I will see how comfortable the boat service is, and then I will return on the city bus to see the differences,” she said.

Other passengers were so impressed with the boats that they had come back for a second time.

Ros Saream rode on one of the boats several days after the service launched, and was now bringing four relatives to join her on another ride to the southernmost stop, Kandal province’s Takhmao City.

“It is my second time, and I am so happy to ride it, so I brought my relatives to see the view and enjoy with me,” Saream said. “I like to ride the boat. Even if it begins to charge money, I would still be happy to ride it.”

People ride the water taxi last week. Ministry of Public Works and Transport/Facebook

The boats, which are equipped with seats and air conditioners, are free to ride for now, but the ministry and the operating company, Phnom Penh Autonomous Port, plan to begin charging for the service in the future. The plan is to eventually extend the service to include 15 stops, according to the Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MPWT).

The ferry service joins other public transportation options, including the city’s expanding public bus service, as well as a recently launched airport train.

Cheng Heng Try greets passengers before they load onto the boat, smiling in his white uniform.

In the days since the service opened, Heng Try has noticed passengers are eager to try out the boat, and the vessels – which have a capacity of about 50 people – can fill up during the weekend.

“Most of the passengers are just trying it out, but we also have some workers who ride as well,” he said, taking short breaks to speak to a reporter in between fielding calls about the next boat’s estimated arrival time.

“Passengers like to compare between the city bus and boat, and they want to know about the service and the speed of the boat,” he said.

Heng Try also noted that some passengers seemed concerned about the safety of the vessels, and asked pointed questions about security on the water.

“We explain our boat is safe and meets technical standards,” he said. “However, I will bring all their concerns to a meeting to find out how to ensure trust and confidence on rides.”

The initial route of Phnom Penh’s water taxi, though the stops at Prek Phnov and Chbar Ampov are not yet operational. The Ministry of Public Works and Transport has said it plans to eventually expand the service to cover 15 stops. Jenni Reid

See the schedule for the new service here

Mao Leng Heng wasn’t concerned about whether the boat could survive the current of the Tonle Sap and Bassac rivers. He sat along the riverbank in the hot sun with a friend, both sweating as they waited for the next ferry to arrive.

The senior in high school said he wanted to ride to all four stops – Russey Keo, Phsar Chas, Chaktomuk and Takhmao City – to get the full ferry experience.

“I am so happy that we now have options for transportation – not only the city bus,” he said. “I am so proud of Cambodia. I am going to spend my day trying all the terminals, and I plan to try the airport train as well.”

On Tuesday night, Thai authorities intercepted a vehicle at a checkpoint in Klaing Yai district, in Thailand’s Trat province, about 50 kilometres from Cambodia’s Cham Yeam checkpoint, a Cambodian National Police website announcement reads.

The weapons seized included two that appear to be Chinese-made Type-95 assault rifles, four M-16s and dozens of rifle parts.

Kirth Chantharith, National Police spokesman, confirmed the arrest.

“We have the information, but now we are investigating. We don’t have the details now,” he said. “So far, there is no cooperation request from the Thai side.”

Thai media also reported a potential connection to Thailand’s military, with the suspect – named as Chayut Prasertrit – driving a car that carried a 4th Calvary Regiment sticker. The suspect reportedly confessed to smuggling the weapons and indicated he intended to deliver them to a customer in Thailand.

June and July last year saw a number of arrests of both Thai and Cambodian nationals in relation to cases of weapon smuggling between Cambodia and Thailand. Among those arrested were a first lieutenant at the Ministry of Interior who is a relative by marriage of both Defence Minister Tea Banh and former Koh Kong Provincial Governor Bun Leut, and a Thai police lieutenant.

The rodent then climbed down the wall and jumped onto their table, before taking a brief dip in the hot pot soup, according to reports by Chinese media.

Eventually, the rat ran away, but the diners were so disgusted by the encounter that they could not finish their meal.

They asked for a refund, but the restaurant owner refused, reported Chinese news outlet The Paper.

Instead, the owner offered to replace their hot pot soup, adding that the appearance of the rat had already caused him much losses.

The two parties got into an argument, but the diners relented in the end and paid for their 292 yuan (RM181) meal in full.

According to The Paper, the restaurant owner said he did not think much of the incident as he thought the diners were young and would not mind.

However, after law enforcement officers visited the restaurant, the owner decided to refund the four diners.

It is the first such exercise in the waterway since 2016, and it coincides with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s visit to Swaziland, one of the self-ruled island’s few remaining international allies.

The Chinese government has given scant details about the manoeuvres, with a Fujian province maritime safety administration statement merely saying last week that the day-long drills would start at 8:00 am (0000 GMT).

China’s Taiwan Affairs Office director Liu Jieyi said Monday the drill was “an action to safeguard the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our motherland”.

As she left for Africa on Tuesday, Tsai said Taiwan has “the confidence and determination to safeguard the country’s security”.

Relations between Beijing and Taipei have deteriorated since Tsai came to office in May 2016, largely because she has not embraced the position that Taiwan and China are part of one country.

China sees the island as a renegade part of its territory to be brought back into the fold and has not ruled out reunification by force.

“It is likely that these drills were planned months ago, but they are a useful warning to Taiwan and the US to not cross Chinese red lines,” Bonnie Glaser, China expert at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, told AFP.

Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is traditionally pro-independence and her newly appointed premier William Lai is a long-standing independence advocate.

After the Communist Party-led parliament paved the way for Xi Jinping to rule for life, the Chinese president warned on March 20 that “all acts and tricks to separate the country are doomed to fail”.

That same day, China’s sole operational aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, sailed through the Taiwan Strait.

“The mainland must create military pressure to let the other side know that no matter whether it happens gradually or they really declare independence, it is totally unacceptable,” Song Zhongping, military commentator for Hong Kong-based Phoenix TV, told AFP.

Song, a former lecturer at a People’s Liberation Army university, said the Liaoning is likely to participate in Wednesday’s drill, as it “has a lot of advantages for resolving the Taiwan problem.”

“It can effectively acquire control of the airspace, and even effectively block the US-Japanese alliance’s strategy for intervening in China’s plan to settle the Taiwan issue,” he said.

A flotilla including the Liaoning has conducted combat training in the South China Sea in the past few days, the navy said on Tuesday.

– ‘Psychological warfare’ –

Beijing has stepped up military patrols around Taiwan and used diplomatic pressure to isolate Taiwan internationally since Tsai took office, with Panama switching allegiance to China last year.

Swaziland is among just 20 nations that still recognise Taipei.

The drill “is part of Beijing’s psychological warfare against Taiwan, and possibly a means to divert attention from Tsai’s visit abroad by compelling media to report on the military drills,” said J. Michael Cole, a Taipei-based senior fellow at the University of Nottingham’s China Policy Institute.

The planned drill could also serve as a signal to Washington, which sent an aircraft carrier through the disputed South China Sea last week.

Washington switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in 1979 but maintains trade relations with the island and is its main arms supplier.

Beijing protested last month after President Donald Trump signed a bill allowing top-level US officials to travel to Taiwan.

China said the US should stop official exchanges with Taiwan to avoid “damaging Sino-US relations”.

White haired and matronly, Bush, who died Tuesday at the age of 92, was decidedly unfashionable, her signature large pearls notwithstanding.

But she honed that staid image shrewdly during George H.W. Bush’s tenure in Washington, and reveled in it again when their son George W. won the White House.

After leaving Washington she emerged as the matriarch of a hyper-powerful American clan.

“She’s an enforcer,” granddaughter Jenna Bush Hager said only Monday.

But even as the United States grew increasingly polarized, Barbara Bush commanded affection across the political spectrum.

Her 73-year marriage to George, the longest of any US presidential couple, was one of the great love affairs in American public life.

When Barbara Bush had open-heart surgery in 2009, her husband said he was a “nervous wreck.” After she regained consciousness, in poignant comments that highlighted their dedication to one another, he choked back tears telling reporters “it was just a reunion of two people who love each other.”

“She’s in command — she’s in control of our whole family,” Bush said.

While her motherliness was genuine — her five children warmly attest to that — the first lady had a sharp tongue and a steely side which surfaced in her fierce loyalty to her husband.

Among the better-known “Barbara barbs” was one thrown when Bush described her husband’s 1984 rival for the vice presidency, Geraldine Ferraro, as something that “rhymes with rich.”

Bush graciously apologized later, polishing her credentials as the consummate political wife.

‘Enough Bushes’

In that role, Bush propelled her husband though his two terms as a US congressman, to his posts as ambassador to China and head of the CIA, his eight years as Ronald Reagan’s vice president and then four as his successor.

But after serving her role as wife and mother to two presidents, Bush flinched at the prospect of a third, son Jeb Bush, running for the White House in 2016.

“There are other people out there that are very qualified,” she said. “We’ve had enough Bushes.”

Barbara Pierce was born on June 8, 1925 in Rye, an affluent New York suburb, one of four children in a privileged family whose lineage included US president Franklin Pierce.

She idolized her father, president of the McCall’s publishing company, but admitted in her memoirs she was never close to her society mother who died in an auto accident in 1949.

George Bush spotted his prospective bride when Barbara was 16 at a dance while both attended exclusive East Coast boarding schools.

They married three years later in 1945, while he was on leave from wartime service.

“I married the first man I ever kissed,” she was often quoted as saying.

Bush attended Smith College, but left after only a year and happily wrapped herself in her husband and family. Though she vehemently defended the decision throughout her public life, she once admitted that at a rare low point in the 1970s, she had second thoughts.

“Suddenly, women’s lib had made me feel that my life had been wasted,” she said in 1989.

‘Extraordinary family’

But Bush’s 1994 “A Memoir” generally describes a life of smooth sailing for the blue-blooded couple despite multiple moves beginning in 1948, when they headed west to make their fortune in the oil business.

The darkest hour came in 1953, when Bush’s infant daughter died of leukemia after seven harrowing months which were said to have caused her hair to turn white in her early thirties.

Their public life began when George Bush was elected to the US House of Representatives in 1966 and then was appointed UN ambassador when he lost his seat in 1971.

Barbara contentedly entertained dignitaries and did charitable work — always for non-controversial causes — but said she was happiest in 1974 when her husband was head of the liaison office in China.

Upon their return to Washington, George Bush took over as CIA chief, and the transition to that confidential post was difficult for his wife, who was used to sharing every aspect of her husband’s career.

In her ceremonial White House role, Barbara Bush contrasted sharply with that of her chilly fashion-plate predecessor, Nancy Reagan, and career woman successor Hillary Clinton.

Clinton thanked Bush for the “many kindnesses” shown to her and her family.

“Thinking about Barbara Bush’s legacy of service to our country and the extraordinary family she raised,” Clinton tweeted.

Bush attributed her phenomenal popularity to having kept in her place.

“It was because I threatened no one. I was old, white-headed and large,” she said in 1990, adding the key element: “I stayed out of my husband’s affairs.”

Bush hinted at a pro-choice stand while her husband sided with abortion foes, and she once let it slip that semi-automatic weapons should be outlawed while he opposed gun control. But she mostly kept her views to herself.

She appeared to blossom in her return to private life, enjoying her brood of grandchildren and her summers at their vacation home in Maine.

For the past 25 years she was deeply involved in her charitable Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy, which raised millions to support literacy programs nationwide.