They have spoken up in defence of this world-famous place after several foreigners made critical comments on a BBC News video clip titled “The train that drives through a market”.

Uploaded on YouTube on Thursday the clip features Thailand’s most famous fresh market, in Samut Songkhram province. This market is usually referred to as “Rom Hup” (folding parasols) because vendors fold parasols over their railway-side stalls whenever a train moves past.

The market sells various kinds of food and agricultural produce. But as part of the unique character and location of the market, some trays remain partly under a moving train when it slowly moves past.

One online comment said, “And that dust under the train must shower over the food”.

Another foreigner complained about the risk of accidents given customers’ and tourists’ proximity to moving trains.

Chokchai Kijrak, a dried-seafood vendor at Rom Hup Market, said foreigners should first visit the market before criticising it.

“They should come here to take a look. Vendors have kept the market very clean. You won’t see any litter,” he said.

He urged foreigners to understand local culture and ways of life.

Boonkerd Pasee, who sells limes at the market, described Rom Hup as unique.

“That’s why it attracts a huge number of tourists,” she said.

She also lamented that in fact it was tourists who hurt trade at the market because their presence has made the market too crowded.

“And I must say most tourists don’t buy fresh produce,” Boonkerd added.

Mae Klong Train Station chief Pattana Wongmujarin said the Rom Hup market had developed naturally after opening more than 30 decades ago.

“It’s not the State Railway of Thailand that has opened this market,” he said.

He said the market was in fact cleaner and safer than ever before.

“We have also revamped our railways,” he said.

Decha Singsakul, a tour guide, said he had brought numerous tourists to Room Hup.

“No one has complained about the market. They only say this place is amazing, something they have never seen elsewhere,” he said.

Decha said the number of tourists to Rom Hup had been rising every year.

“If you think the market smells, you probably don’t understand that every fresh market carries the mixed odour of fresh vegetables, fruits and meat. It’s not a dirty smell,” he said.

In line with the best historical TV dramas, “BuppeSanNiVas” (Love Destiny) is playing a vital role in bringing alive the nation’s history for people living in the present time.

The soap opera’s backdrop is the Ayutthaya period during the reign of King Narai the Great, who ruled the kingdom over 300 years ago.

The series admittedly adds a flavour of “drama” to the history of the period, but has brought to life the brilliant diplomatic moves of King Narai.

“I’m not surprised why King Narai was bestowed with the title ‘the Great’,” said Adisak Panupong, former Thai ambassador to several countries.

“He was faced with internal and external battles. But with his wise vision, he succeeded in balancing the power between his noblemen and outsiders,” Adisak told a recent seminar entitled “A look back into Thai history with BuppeSanNiVas”.

Adisak noted that the series focuses on an era when the Ayutthaya attracted the attention of numerous foreign countries, including Holland, France, Persia and China, who were eyeing to occupy the kingdom.

King Narai ruled from 1656 to 1688 and was arguably the most famous Ayutthaya king.

His reign coincided with the most prosperous times of what we now call the “Ayutthaya Era” and saw great commercial and diplomatic relations with foreign states in the Middle East and the West.

Adisak pointed to a smart move by King Narai that attracted huge interest among viewers of the TV series and generated widespread debate.

In that scene, King Narai is seen bending down to Chevalier de Chaumont, the first French emissary of King Louis XIV to Siam, who stood in front of the Siamese king. De Chaumont wanted to hand a letter from Louis XIV directly over to the king in the western manner at the Hall of Sanphet in 1685.

But in the same scene, Greek adventurer Constantine Phaulkon was seen prostrating himself in the lower left corner, as he made a gesture in an attempt to get the French envoy to raise the letter up to the king to reflect his status.

“I give my vote to the king’s decision [to bend down]. That was very wise,” said Adisak. “His manner pleased all sides, except the king’s ‘khun nang’ [noblemen].”

In French diplomatic culture, ambassadors are seen as important persons because they represent their king. So de Chaumont wanted to hand the letter directly to King Narai – king to king – but Thai people at that time gave importance to the letter itself, rather than the ambassador who carried it, Adisak explained.

After the incident, King Narai sent the first mission to France, led by Kosa Pan and two other diplomats, he added.

Thai ambassador Kosa Pan and two other diplomats have an audience with French King Louis XIV at Versailles Palace in 1686.  Photo Wikipedia

“King Narai was marvellous at moving diplomatic affairs. He knew how to seek mutual consent and how to forge a compromise between the two sides,” Adisak said.

During the later years of his reign, King Narai gave his “favourite” – Greek adventurer Phaulkon – so much power that the Greek man effectively became the chancellor of the state.

Through the arrangements made by Phaulkon, the Siamese kingdom forged close diplomatic relations with the court of Louis XIV and French soldiers and missionaries filled the Siamese aristocracy and defence forces to counter the influence of the Dutch at that time.

The French tried to convert King Narai to Christianity but the king again succeeded in neutralising the French attempt, according to the vice minister to the PM’s Office Minister ML Panadda Diskul.

‘King’s vision’

Panadda said he was impressed by King Narai’s speech in which he rejected an invitation by the French king to convert to Catholicism.

“Wasn’t it God’s desire to create things and all living creatures that have different appearances and minds, as well as religions?” asked King Narai.

“It would be difficult for me [King Narai] to change my belief in a religion which has been believed by my people [the Siamese] for more than 2,000 years,” Panadda quoted from the king’s speech to the French ambassador.

“Officials in Foreign Affairs always said the king and Kosa Pan were truly silver-tongued diplomats,” said Panadda.

The dominance of French officials at the king’s court caused friction between them and the native mandarins and led to the turbulent revolution of 1688 towards the end of King Narai’s reign.

“It was a turning point in Thai history regarding relationships with foreign countries,” noted Adisak. “We stopped contacting foreigners because of Phra Phetracha, who usurped the throne from King Narai.”

He added that a hateful sentiment towards foreigners spread at that time, and King Phetracha reversed the pro-Western policies of King Narai and ejected foreigners from the kingdom.

The Siamese had to wait until the era of King Rama II of the Rattanakosin Era to resume substantial contact with foreigners, the ex-ambassador said.

“With the king’s vision, Siam lost nothing while foreigners still love us,” said film director Viroj Srisitsereeamorn, who advised the TV series’ production team on history.

“Actually, the king also served as the kingdom’s public relations director as he helped promote several tourist attractions in Ayutthaya Kingdom to foreigners.”

First launched in mid-February, “BuppeSanNiVas” has been a big hit in Thailand, also drawing audiences in Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Korea, China and Russia who watch a version with subtitles in their own language as well as in English.

The series, which will end later this month, is about a kind-hearted woman, “Kedsurang”, whose soul is transported back in time to the Ayutthaya period to live inside the body of a beautiful woman called “Karaked”.

Karaked was initially a wicked woman, who plotted a murder and was cursed.

After the real Karaked died following a sacred cursing ritual, her body was possessed by Kedsurang’s soul. Other characters in the series are surprised to see the changes in Karaked’s behaviour. She becomes funny and kind.

Kedsurang in Karaked’s body challenges some social norms of the olden days but has also learned to adjust over time. In Karaked’s body, Kedsurang meets and marries her destined soulmate who was a courtier during King Narai’s reign.

The closure of the racecourse became inevitable after the landlord, Crown Property Bureau (CPB), decided to terminate the lease contract.

The CPB sent a letter to the racecourse operator, Royal Turf Club of Thailand under the Royal Patronage, on April 4 to officially inform about the termination of the lease.

The letter stated that the CPB had already discussed with the club about ending the contract for some time already.

Anun Vaividhya, who heads the CPB Legal Affairs Department, told the club via the letter that it must vacate the area within 180 days of being officially informed of the contract termination.

The Royal Turf Club opened the racecourse in 1916 during the reign of King Rama VI, who not only inaugurated the racecourse but also sent his horses to compete in its competition.

King Rama VI also named the club that organises horseracing the Royal Turf Club.

All 17 students from his Prathom 6 class, who turned up at Na Si Nuan School in Sakon Nakhon province on March 28 to learn about their performance during the past academic year, were pleasantly surprised to know that they had all been honoured.

Pongthep Pongphan, for example, was acknowledged as the best singer and actor in the class while Methawee Supawang won praise for remarkable fishing skills. Another student, Thirapon Donsawang, was named “outstanding volunteer” for handing milk cartons to his classmates every single day.

“I have assessed my students based on their skills, not their academic performance,” Shinnakorn said.

Not surprisingly, all students were thrilled by the recognition from the teacher.

Pictures of the announcement were uploaded on social media, along with the preening faces of the happy children.

The pictures, and the emotions they kindled, have prompted several people to revive the debate on whether schools really need to subject children to gruelling exams, the kind that impose much pressure on students.

“I want to introduce new ways of teaching and assessments. I want to promote active learning. Along the process, teachers will understand more about their students and support their potential development,” Shinnakorn said.

He said he had actively engaged his students in class activities since he started teaching eight years ago in the hope that learning experiences would prove practical in real life.

“Engagement will increase students’ self-value and esteem. It’s a way to make children realise that they are valuable to both themselves and others,” he said.

Shinnakorn said he could organise various kinds of active learning thanks to support from school executives and local communities.

“Communities are important. For example, when there was a project to build check-dams in the area, I could take my students to see the construction. There, I could teach students about the ecological system and environmental protection. My teaching could also cover biodiversity,” he said.

Shinnakorn used to teach Mathayom 5 students, too and some of his students could use class projects to apply for a seat at their chosen university.

This new-generation teacher believes he is now on the right track and hopes others will follow suit.

“Let’s consider empowering children in a fresh, new way. Step out of the box to understand them better. Help them identify their potential and support them,” Shinnakorn said.

Shinnakorn added that his teaching style did not undermine the core essence of the country’s current educational structure, but complemented it.

“Not all children will become doctors in the future. Teachers and schools thus should not press children too hard about their Ordinary National Educational Test,” he said. “Please pay attention to the fact that society needs people to be engaged in various occupations and people who have not excelled in academic affairs may have good life skills.”

The taskforce – made up of Phayak Prai Forest Protection Operations Centre agents led by Cheewapap Cheewatham and Natural Resources and Environment Department Crime Suppression Police – had begun following the truck late Thursday evening after noticing suspicious activity.

They tailed the truck until it stopped in a carpark in Samut Prakan’s Bang Phli district, examined the contents and arrested the driver.

Inside the 60-cubic-metre truck was tamalan wood prepared for export. Cheewapap estimated the sale value at around Bt15 million.

At almost the same time, officials were separately searching three sawmills in Ayutthaya province suspected of illegal activity. Logs and processed planks were seized.

Cheewapap said the taskforce would expand its operations and try to arrest the bosses behind the illegal logging.

The force has in recent years frequently confronted transnational logging gangs, for which phayung and tamalan wood are in particularly high demand.

Earlier this week logs about to be transported along the Mekong River were intercepted in Chiang Rai and forestry officials were found to be involved. One official on temporary hire was sacked.

The discovery raised concerns about the extent of official collusion in the illegal activities.

The United States has urged all stakeholders, including the Asean bloc, to take the proper steps to provide protection and adequate humanitarian assistance to Rohingya –those remaining in Myanmar’s Rakhine state and those in squalid refugee camps in Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, the Rohingya community in Thailand has called on the nation to participate in solving the crisis.

The Rohingya crisis was discussed during the 31st US-Asean dialogue in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, said US Deputy Assistant Secretary for Southeast Asia Patrick Murphy.

“The collective body of participants agreed on the need for steps to improve the delivery of humanitarian assistance, create a secure environment, particularly for very vulnerable Rohingya,” he said in a phone conference with journalists in the region.

“We also discussed the need to assist Myanmar with its transition to democracy. There was certainly an acknowledgement of the complex environment there,” he said.

Some 700,000 refugees have fled from Rakhine state since August last year when a militant group attacked Myanmar security outposts in the western state, prompting a heavy handed response under the cover of a “clearance operation” by the Tatmadaw (Myanmar military) that killed thousands of people. Rohingya have been victims of atrocities including arson, torture, murder, gang rape and massacre within their Rakhine villages and as they travelled to the Bangladesh border over the past months.

Murphy (left) is in the 31st US-Asean Diloague in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday

“We are very concerned for the plight of the Rohingya, both the populations that have fled into Bangladesh, and those that remain,” Murphy said. “This has been a massive human population movement, and it’s the result of insecurity, in some cases atrocities and abuses. And it’s been very, very troubling.”

While de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi continues to be strongly criticised over what some see as complicity in what the UN has labelled as “elements of genocide”, the international community is reluctant to undermine Myanmar’s nascent democratic government.

Murphy said the international community wants to support the government and see it come to terms with the crisis.

“Of course it’s a complex problem and it’s longstanding, and the elected government in Nay Pyi Daw has inherited this problem and they are struggling with it,” Murphy said.

The US and Asean nations want to help encourage actions that bring about protection for vulnerable populations, ensure adequate delivery of humanitarian assistance, and pave the way for repatriation so that the Rohingya can return to their homes in a safe, dignified, voluntary manner, he said.

“We also want to pursue accountability for those who have committed abuses and atrocities in order to bolster the rule of law and ensure that such events do not repeat themselves,” Murphy said.

Asked if the international community could address the Rakhine crisis at its root cause, rather than just providing humanitarian assistance, Murphy said there’s some reason to be encouraged, because the government itself had established the Kofi Annan Commission and embraced last August’s recommendations that came from that process.

The 88 “very solid” recommendations of the Commission address short, medium and long-term challenges, and if implemented, could go a long way to addressing the root causes of underdevelopment, discrimination, the lack of rights in citizenship, he said.

Suu Kyi picked Thai former foreign minister Surakiart Sathirathai to lead an advisory board to implement the Annan recommendations.

Surakiart led a board meet with Aung San Suu Kyi last month and with Singapore foreign minister Vivian Balakrishnan this week as they seek ways to help end the crisis with broadened Asean roles.

However Siyeed Alam, chairman of Rohingya Association in Thailand, said yesterday that Asean should allow the Rohingya communities in the region to participate in the problem-solving process.

“Asean and the Surakiart board are acting as if they are white-washing the Myanmar government,” he told The Nation. “They said they are doing it for the Rohingya but never listen to our voices.”

Two of them are officials under other government agencies, while one is a C8-level education official based in the Northeast.

The Education Fund for Life Development, which was established with a budget of Bt600 million, has reportedly lost about Bt118 million to corruption.

The link between the three officials and Rojana Sintee – who has confessed to embezzling money from the fund – remains unclear. Rojana, also a C8-level official at the time the scandal broke, has already been dismissed from service.

“I talked to Rojana last week. Her information, so far, has not matched what we have found,” said Athapol Truektrong, the Education Ministry’s inspector-general who is heading the ministry’s probe into the alleged corruption. He said Rojana claimed she had acted alone and started embezzling funds in 2012.

“But our ongoing probe has found that embezzlement began in 2004,” Athapol said.

Rojana also failed to turn up to provide testimony directly to Athapol’s committee yesterday.

“We won’t summon her again. Even without her testimony we can conduct the probe,” he said. He added that the probe was more than 90 per cent complete.

Athapol said many retired officials had answered his committee’s summons and most had testified.

“We asked them how they disbursed the funds and most said they just approved disbursements based on documents prepared by relevant teams. So, at this point, we have yet to determine whether they had colluded with Rojana,” he said.

An informed source said one of the summoned officials had been involved in another corruption case.

“This retiree is facing a separate probe for an alleged grave disciplinary offence, as he is believed to have stolen about Bt4.8 million from the state budget. He returned the money after his action was exposed,” the source said.

The same source said stock trading documents were found in Rojana’s room, raising speculations that she might have funnelled some money into stocks.

Meanwhile, the Bangkok education committee yesterday failed to convene a meeting due to lack of quorum.

As a result, the widely speculated dismissal of Samsenwittayalai School’s director, Wiroj Samruan, did not take place.

A probe has already concluded that Wiroj committed a grave disciplinary offence by receiving Bt400,000 in tea money from a parent in exchange for offering a seat at his school for the parent’s child. The conclusion means Wiroj will be dismissed from service, with or without a pension.

The dismissal must come from a resolution approved by the Bangkok education committee that failed to meet yesterday.

THE Office of the Judiciary yesterday did not show any intention to back away from the controversial housing project in Doi Suthep despite Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan yesterday suggesting the houses may be relocated.

The office secretary-general Sarawut Benjakul said his agency would deal with the matter under the existing law.

Earlier, Prawit had said the Bt1-billion temporary summer residences for court officials on Chiang Mai forestland is likely to be turned into an area for public use, and trees felled for the construction will be replanted.

General Prawit said further steps would follow after a meeting of relevant state agencies next Monday.

However, both sides in the dispute remained firm on their positions and did not show signs of budging yesterday.

“I can’t order the buildings to be dismantled. It’s beyond my authority,” Sarawut said. “They are not my personal property; they belong to the state,” he told a press conference.

The dispute involves the construction of summer residences for senior judges and court officials at the foot of the northern city’s Doi Suthep mountain. Local environmentalists are unhappy that the ongoing construction has allegedly appropriated Doi Suthep forestland, as the construction site is close to the Doi Suthep-Pui National Park.

The project, built at a cost of Bt1 billion, includes nine homes for court presidents, 36 homes for chief justices, and 13 apartment buildings for court officials.

The Network to Reclaim Doi Suthep Forest, which is campaigning against the Office of the Judiciary’s project, yesterday demanded that the buildings must be demolished. “We won’t accept any other suggestions, including one about turning the project into a learning centre,” Teerasak Rupsuwan, coordinator of the group, said.

“The network will not back off from this fight,” he said, adding that his group was planning to take the case to the Administrative Court and was also collecting signatures for a petition to the Palace.

Prawit said yesterday that the project was likely to be moved elsewhere and the current site turned into an area for public use.

“The trees that were felled will be replaced to make it look like before,” he said. “It may be turned into a recreational area for the public.”

Prawit, who is in charge of the government’s security affairs, also noted that the construction site is not in a national forest. “The land plot is a state property and it has been obtained lawfully,” he said.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has instructed relevant state agencies to find a solution that would be satisfactory to all parties, Government Spokesman Lt-General Sansern Kaewkumnerd said yesterday. The PM said all parties – the Justice Ministry, construction contractors and local residents – deserve sympathy.

“The government wants to make everyone get what they expect in a good way. No problems should be created in society. And there must be no disputes,” the spokesman said, quoting the PM.

Sarawut said the project area does not encroach on any national forest and the agency had received permission from the Treasury Department and other relevant agencies for use of the land.

The Office of the Judiciary welcomes all constructive suggestions that could help solve the problem, Sarawut said.

He said that he would raise the matter at the meeting of the executive board of the Courts of Justice next Monday and would relay its resolution to the prime minister for further consideration.

Sarawut said that no large trees were felled for the construction. More than 230 trees with trunks larger than 30 centimetres in diameter were transplanted and moved out before the construction began, he said. He also said that land plots adjacent to the project were used by some other state agencies, and a local sports stadium is located nearby.

Earlier yesterday, three members of the group cancelled a symbolic march they began on Wednesday from Chiang Mai to Bangkok, citing fears that the activity would be used by those with “hidden agendas”.

Krit Yiammetha, Direk Chantharadilok and Saruth Srithaworn planned to walk to the capital to present a petition to the prime minister, asking him to use Article 44 of the interim charter to halt construction of the project. Krit said many people with ill intentions had tried to infiltrate or get involved in the march to use it for instigating or fuelling disunity, which was not what he and the other volunteers intended.

“We undertook a peaceful march out of a sincere intention to ask the premier’s help – not for other purposes,” Krit said, noting there had been no collection of donations associated with the march,” he said.

Meanwhile, four Chiang Mai residents painted a graffiti mural onto a wall in the northern city’s Muang district as a symbolic gesture of protest against the project. The mural shows tears of blood streaming down an eye, while a shadow inside the iris shows forestland being carved out in the controversial estate’s shape. Accompanied by the Thai wording meaning “Reclaiming Doi Suthep Forest”, the graffiti was on Wednesday painted onto the wall of a consenting private property owner near Chiang Mai College of Dramatic Arts and has been shared widely on Thai social media.

“But at this point, we have not found any link to political-office|holders or politicians,” Office of Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) acting secretary general Lt Colonel Korntip Daroj revealed|yesterday.

PACC has been investigating all state-run protection centres for the destitute across the country after a university student, who was posted as an intern at the Khon Kaen Protection Centre for the Destitute, noticed irregularities and blew the whistle.

Ongoing investigations have already found suspicious practices at 56 centres and implicated 96 officials.

Korntip said PACC would ask the Social Development and Human Security Ministry, which oversees the centres, to transfer accused officials.

“At present, the Anti-Money Laundering Office has helped us with the examination of financial flows,” he added.

Preecha Kraikruan said he decided to seek legal action against Charoon Wimoon after provincial police decided not to forward to public prosecutors his claim that Charoon either stole his winning tickets or picked up the tickets he dropped at a market.

“I am allowed by law to seek justice by myself as police did not pursue the case. So I filed the case with the court myself,” he said.

The court has set June 4 to consider the complaint, he said.

Charoon has already cashed the winning tickets and spent about Bt5 million, before the sum was frozen following Preecha’s complaint.

Charoon has accused Preecha of making a false statement by accusing him of either stealing or accidentally finding the tickets. However, Preecha’s arrest last month for filing false reports, made many assume that the winnings belonged to Charoon.