The first gathering of fourth- and fifth-generation descendants is being organised jointly with the Foreign Ministry as part of the 185th anniversary of Thai-US relations.

Chang and Eng married two American sisters and fathered 21 children.

“I’m so excited to see the Siamese Twins’ statue. Our family would love to erect a similar bronze statue designed by an American sculptor in our city Mount Airy [in North Carolina],” Alex Sink, great granddaughter of Chang, told The Nation. “We are working on joining the two cities as ‘Sister Cities’ in order to boost exchange between two countries,” she added.

The replica statue is set to be unveiled in Mount Airy on May 28 when the city sees the 29th reunion of the Siamese twins’ descendants.

The Thai festival commemorating the 207th birth anniversary of the twins kicks off today in front of the twins’ statue in Muang’s Latyai sub-district and runs through Sunday. Today their descendants hold Buddhist rites before unveiling a new street named “Chang and Eng” where the statue is located.

The festival is co-hosted by the province and the Tourism Authority of Thailand with the aim of promoting Samut Songkhram as an international tourist destination.

The descendants also paid visits to the studio of renowned sculptor Sa-ngad Jaiprom, who created the statue, and to the Memorial Park of King Rama II, who commissioned the twins to join a diplomatic mission to Indochina in 1827. The twins shot to international fame as part of a world tour in 1829, before settling in the US a decade later.

Their descendants now number more than 1,500, many of whom continue to reside in the vicinity of Mount Airy, where the twins lived and worked for over 30 years before they died on January 17, 1874, at the age of 63.

Descendants of both brothers continue to hold joint reunions every last Saturday of May.

Hundreds of demonstrators from the People’s Movement for a Just Society (P-Move), who are victims of land rights problems across the nation, marched from their former rally site at the Finance Ministry to Government House on the ninth day of their protest yesterday. They were there to monitor the outcome of a meeting between P-Move representatives and government officials to discuss the protesters’ demands.

The 35 leading members of P-Move were invited to Government House to discuss what they claim are rights deprivations and unjust official policies, with a committee tasked with finding solutions, which is being chaired by the Minister Attached to the PM’s Office Suwaphan Tanyuvardhana.

Prayong Doklamyai, an adviser to P-Move, said that the results of the meeting were satisfactory. It was the first time that the problems of poor and marginalised citizens from the movement were brought to a Cabinet meeting, he said, adding that a Cabinet resolution ordered clear plans and mitigation measures be implemented.

“The stance of Minister Suwaphan towards our movement and demands was friendly,” he said, “as he even ordered the reconsideration of problematic policies such as forest reclamation, and offered swift remedies for the people affected by the creation of special economic zones in Tak province’s Mae Sot district.”.

However, he added that the protesters would extend their stay in the capital to make sure that the government kept its promise.

Suwaphan assured those at the meeting that every problem identified by the P-Move network was currently in the process of being mitigated. The Cabinet led by Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha was brought up to speed at its meeting in Buri Ram last Tuesday on all of the major problems that the group had campaigned on.

P-Move has asked for swift solutions on six issues: unjust law enforcement against poor people, biased implementation of forest reclamation policy, laws allowing deforestation to open new lands for industrial expansion, allowing 99-year land leases to foreigners, lack of recognition of communal rights to manage local natural resources, and the inefficiency of official mechanisms in solving poor people’s problems.

“The Cabinet resolution from last Tuesday includes an official process to solve all P-Move’s problems, with ministers of relevant ministries ordered to rush the mitigation measures for each problem,” Suwaphan said.

“We will be in charge of growing and improving marijuana,” GPO chairman Dr Sopon Mekthon said yesterday. “We will also handle the analysis and synthesis of marijuana.”

He was speaking after attending a meeting with the committee reviewing the use of marijuana for medical purposes.

Some countries have legalised marijuana for medical use, including for people suffering neurological conditions, terminal cancer, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s.

Sopon said that four committees were set up at yesterday’s meeting to push ahead with the plan.

In Thailand, marijuana is still categorised as a dangerous narcotic, making it necessary to amend laws before the plant could be used as a medicine.

“The Office of Narcotics Control Board has assured us that it will propose amendments to the law so that we can go ahead with the plan,” Sopon said. “The proposal should reach the Cabinet next week.”

According to Sopon, the GPO has planned to develop a closed-system marijuana farm of 1,100 square metres at its headquarters in Bangkok’s Rama VI area.

“We will need a starting budget of between Bt10 million and Bt20 million as we will also have to buy a machine to get useful extracts from marijuana,” he said.

Assistant Professor Vichien Keeratinijaka, a lecturer at Kasetsart University’s Faculty of Agriculture, said that initially Thailand might need to import marijuana from Canada for studies.

“We will need to adjust the species to ensure it can grow successfully in our local environment,” he said. “We may also set up a team to explore local marijuana strains. We have reports that they are found in various northeastern provinces, including Sakon Nakhon,” he said.

TWO WOMEN dubbed the “Murder Babes” by media were yesterday handed decades-long prison sentences for the grisly killing of rival Warisara Klinjui last May.

A Khon Kaen Court initially sentenced Priyanuch “Praew” Nonwangchai, 24, and Kawita Rachada, 26, to life in prison. The tariff was then commuted to 34 years and six months each, as both had confessed during the trial to the killing of 22-year-old Warisara, whose dismembered body was found buried in a forest in Khao Suan Kwang district on May 25 last year. Priyanuch and Kawita were found guilty of conspiring to murder Warisara, conspiring to destroy and hide her body and conspiring in theft.

Waitress Warisara was murdered after allegedly informing police of drug trafficking by Priyanuch’s boyfriend.

Another defendant, 22-year-old Wasin Namprom, was found guilty of being an accessory to the murder, conspiring to destroy and hide the body, and conspiring in theft. Wasin was sentenced to 23 years, four months and 20 days.

A fourth defendant, Apiwan Satayabundit, 28, was found guilty of conspiracy to murder, conspiracy to destroy and hide the body, and taking methamphetamine, and was handed 33 years and nine months in jail.

Priyanuch, Kawita, Wasin and Apiwan – who were absolved of premeditated murder and carrying knives in a public place – were ordered to pay Bt1.07 million in compensation plus 7.5 per cent annual interest since the murder until the full payment was made to Warisara’s mother, Pichapa Khamperngjai. Upon hearing the verdict, Priyanuch, Kawita, and Apiwan broke down in tears.

A fifth defendant, Jidarat Phromkhun, 21, who had pled guilty to receiving stolen items at the first court session on February 20, was given a one-year jail term without suspension.

Warisara’s family was reportedly unsatisfied with the sentences and planned to seek heavier penalties at the Appeals Court.

Priyanuch’s family appeared calm on hearing the verdict, with her elder sister Prapasiri Prasomsri vowing to launch an appeal for lighter punishment, which Priyanuch and Kawita’s lawyer Amornpong Chankawi confirmed would be submitted within a month.

The case has received huge public attention, involving as it did the grisly murder and dismemberment of a beautiful young woman by a group of women in their 20s whose widely publicised photos saw them dubbed the “murder babes”.

The police investigation and subsequent hunt for Priyanuch, Kawita and Apiwan, who initially fled to Myanmar after the killing, has been making headlines for months.

Fourth Army Region chief Lt-General Piyawat Nakwanich’s announcement yesterday prompted cheers and clapping from a crowd of 500 villagers who had gathered at Wat Leenanont to object to the idea, claiming it could further damage trust.

Piyawat had initially planned to explain the project to some 2,000 residents in three villages – Chulabhorn Pattana 12, Rak Tham and Leenanont – close to the 600 rai (96 hectares) of land that would be used for residences and farmland for 105 former separatists.

The separatists returned from Malaysia months ago and reported to the Army’s “Bring People Home” project, which is aimed at helping former insurgents reintegrate into Thai society.

The Army’s recent announcement of the plan drew widespread local opposition and concern, including from Network of Buddhists for Peace president Rakchat Suwan, who urged the plan be suspended and the Army listen to the opponents.

The villagers have argued that the plan would undermine trust building and that former insurgents could cause future problems.

It also led to a 500-strong demonstration at the Chulabhorn Army Camp on May 1 where a joint statement from three villages opposing the plan was read.

According to Fourth Army Region deputy chief Maj-General Wanlop Thitikul, the “Bring People Home” project would help two groups of former insurgents who had surrendered to cooperate with Thai authorities and had no outstanding warrants.

The amnesty scheme has so far led to the repatriation of about 100 former members of insurgent groups who had fled Thailand to avoid prosecution 30 years ago and nearly 300 people who were living in the South and involved in the unrest.

Activists siding with the Network to Reclaim Doi Suthep Forest said a geographical survey backed their call for the removal of 45 houses and nine condominium buildings being built as homes for court officials.

“The forest zone is very clear, so I am not worried about the survey results,” the network’s coordinator Teerasak Rupsuwan said.

Construction of the houses and condominiums has continued as the Bt1-billion project works towards its June 18 scheduled completion, noted Teerasak. After the Court of Appeals Region 5, which owns the construction project, accepts the work from the constructor, it will hand over the plot to the Treasury Department under an agreement struck between the Prime Minister’s Office and opponents of the project.

The agreement was wrapped up last Sunday by PM’s Office Minister Suwaphan Tanyuvardhana and activists who had strong local backing in opposing the project. Although the buildings are not inside the adjacent Doi Suthep-Pui National Park, protesters have said the structures are encroaching on forestland. “After the Treasury Department gets that plot, it should be declared a part of the national park,” Teerasak said.

The 33rd Military Circle, which has helped mediate the conflict, will next week start building a road to facilitate reforestation efforts. The road will not go past the Court of Appeals Region 5 headquarters, which sits near the construction site. Suwaphan, meanwhile, said a new plot of land would be found for the Court of Appeals Region 5 in place of the controversial site that it had to give up. “We will establish committees to handle relevant issues,” he said. “We will proceed carefully”.

He downplayed a senior public prosecutor’s comment that laws would allow a government agency to cancel or alter contracts with the builder. The comment was posted through a personal Facebook account, apparently in response to public debate asking why the construction at the controversial site has continued when it has been agreed that no one will use the structures. The Network to Reclaim Doi Suthep Forest wants the structures demolished.

The victory of Mahathir, 92, is considered a political earthquake that toppled the country’s scandal-plagued premier and ousted a regime that had ruled for over six decades.

While the Thai government has apparently not expressed its felicitations to Mahathir, former PM Thaksin, who is wanted on criminal charges in Thailand, was quick to express his best wishes in a series of @ThaksinLive tweets.

“My sincere congratulations to Dr Mahathir Mohamed on his spectacular comeback. The  people have spoken loud and clear that they not only remember his outstanding legacy but need his leadership,” he wrote.

He misspelled Dr Mahathir’s family name, spelling it Mohamed instead of Mohamad. The mistake appeared in his statements on his Facebook wall “Thaksin Shinawatra”.

“From my experience of working closely with him, I am confident that he will lead the Alliance of Hope and Malaysia into a successful future,” he wrote.

“His leadership will undoubtedly reinvigorate Asean as well as the ideas and visions he helped shape. I am certain that all the Thai people share my sentiment and respect towards him.”

Thaksin also posted a photo of him shaking hands with Mahathir during an Apec Summit in Bangkok in 2003. His statements in twitter and Facebook were in both Thai and English.

Takeru Hirano was arrested after officers found a disarmed anti-personnel mine and 23 rifle magazines in his bag as he was about to board a flight back to Japan.

Police said they would bring Hirano to apply for a criminal court’s detention order on Friday and would not oppose his bail application, said Metropolitan Police Area 2 deputy chief Pol Colonel Khomsak Sumangkaset on Thursday.

The Japanese national was initially charged with possessing weapons without a required Thai registration permit, carrying dangerous weapons in an airport and importing weapons into the Kingdom without permission.

Khomsak said the man confessed that the items were his and said he had bought them thinking they were harmless souvenir pieces from Ho Chi Minh City to add into his collection.

He told police that he didn’t know his action was against Thai law as he was allowed to bring them aboard a flight from Vietnam to Thailand on April 25.

Provincial Police Region 5 chief Pol Lt-General Pulsap Prasertsak led the operation at Ban Huai Han in Tambon Por, which also aimed to uncover drug criminals and fugitives. They brought along the explosive ordnance disposal team, which used a metal detector to look for spent cartridges at spots where the gunmen were suspected of disposing of the weapons used in the ambush.

The search for evidence from the ambush failed to find anything, but the search led to the arrests of a number of people possessing illegal items and unregistered guns, Pulsap said.

Police suspect that 54-year-old Thaweesak’s role in the recent arrests of drug suspects might have prompted the attack that killed his wife and five-year-old daughter, and left the chief of Tambon Por and president of the Hmong People Club of Thailand and his three-year-old son seriously injured.