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https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40005617

Nakhon Sawan cop to face perjury charges over suspect’s death

Perjury charges will be filed against former Nakhon Sawan Police Station chief, Pol Colonel Thitisan Uthanapol, after his statement about the death of a drug suspect was found to be in contradiction of the evidence and autopsy results, deputy National Police chief Pol General Suchart Theerasawat said on Wednesday.

Suchart said this while reporting investigation results to the Parliament’s Committee on Legal Affairs, Justice and Human Rights.

Police have faced allegations of human rights violations after a video clip was shared on social media showing Thitisan suffocating a drug suspect with plastic bags.

Later, other officers from the station filed complaints against their chief alleging that he demanded 2 million baht from two drug suspects – a man and a woman – on August 5 before suffocating the man with plastic bags. He then allegedly ordered the doctor to put the case down as a drug overdose and told the woman to stay quiet before releasing her.

“Thitisan told the hospital that the male suspect had died while being arrested after a sting operation,” Suchart said. “However, it has been proven that the suspect died from being suffocated with layers of plastic bags during interrogation. There is also evidence of resuscitation techniques being applied to the suspect’s body before it was sent to hospital.

“As for the demand for 2 million baht, the father and girlfriend of the deceased have seen no evidence of Thitisan demanding the money,” Suchart added.

The public prosecutor said on Tuesday that autopsy results and CCTV footage confirmed that the death was caused by suffocation, not overdose as claimed by Thitisan.

“Layers of plastic bags were tightly twisted around the victim’s neck for more than six minutes. Though the victim’s blood has shown traces of drugs, covering anybody’s head in such a manner can be fatal,” said Sophong Yenkaew, deputy chief of Region 6 Public Prosecutor Office.

Published : September 02, 2021

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40005616

Russian in custody after drugs bust on Koh Samui

Police are interrogating a suspected Russian drug trafficker, 47, after arresting him at a house on Koh Samui, Surat Thani, yesterday.

Immigration police on the resort island raided the house and discovered narcotics and a set of digital scales inside.

Evidence seized included 16 grams of crystal meth (Ice), 200 grams and 10 tablets of cocaine, 25 grams of ketamine, 16 grams of methamphetamine, and 50 tablets of MDMA (Ecstasy).

A suspect was charged with possessing category 1 and 2 narcotics for sale and sent for interrogation at the island’s Bophut Police Station.

Published : September 02, 2021

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40005615

South Korean found hanging in Chiang Mai rental property

A South Korean man was found hanging in a rental house in Chiang Mai on Thursday. A medical examination found that he had been dead for at least two weeks.

According to his documents, the dead man was Kim Hwangong, 60, a volunteer who worked with depressed patients.

Muang Chiang Mai police and staff from Maharaj Nakorn Chiang Mai Hospital were called in on Thursday morning to check the corpse, which was found at a house in Saeng Petch village, Muang district. No wounds were found on the body.

Prapaphan Tuankruea, 32, said Kim had rented her house since August 6. Neighbours this morning told her they had not seen Kim for a long time, so they decided to break into the house along with a village guard.

Prapaphan suspected Kim had killed himself due to depression. She said he had previously mentioned he felt depressed after help taking care of depressed patients.

Police concluded the South Korean had committed suicide. His corpse was taken to Maharaj Nakorn Chiang Mai Hospital for further examination.

Published : September 02, 2021

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40005613

A Covid-19 ‘haunting’ in Buri Ram

A former Covid-19 patient went live on social media on Wednesday to share the eerie surroundings of the temple funeral hall in Buri Ram where he is being forced to isolate.

Facebook user “Acting Sergeant Jaruwong Nilbunpot”, who is a part-time rescue volunteer in Bangkok, posted a message and a video clip about his isolation in Buri Ram’s Nong Ki district. 

The post read: “Breaking news from Nong Ki, Buri Ram: After 14 days of treatment at Nong Ki field hospital, the doctor gave me a certificate and told me to isolate myself at home for another 14 days. But what is this? Related authorities must take note. I have been isolated without being given three meals a day. I can be isolated anywhere but here – in front of the crematorium in a funeral hall. Why don’t they just cremate me? Why are they doing this? I’m so confused.”

Jaruwong also shared a clip capturing the haunting atmosphere at night, complaining bitterly that he had been discharged by the doctor and told to isolate at home, yet Thung Kraten community leaders insisted he spends time in the funeral hall. 

The post immediately went viral on social media.
Jaruwong told reporters on Thursday that he had travelled to his partner’s home in Nong Ki district on August 19 and tested positive for Covid-19 three days later. He was then sent to a field hospital for treatment and discharged on September 1.  

However, when he arrived at his partner’s house, community leaders pounced on him and insisted he shift to the funeral hall, which Jaruwong says is unfair and hopes some action will be taken.
His partner and everybody else in the house had tested negative.

Published : September 02, 2021

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40005611

14,956 new cases, 262 fatalities as Thailand continues battling Covid-19

Thailand logged 14,956 new Covid-19 cases and 262 deaths over the past 24 hours on Thursday. Of the new infections, 356 were found in prisons.

Meanwhile, 17,936 patients have recovered and been discharged over the past 24 hours.

Thailand’s total caseload from Covid stands at 1,234,487 – 1,058,704 of whom have recovered, 163,680 are still in hospitals and 12,103 have died.

Separately, another 352,434 people were given their first Covid-19 shot in the last 24 hours, 471,945 their second shot, and 3,083 their third shot, bringing the total Covid-19 vaccine doses administered nationwide to 33,427,463.

According to Worldometer, as of 10am on Thursday, confirmed cases globally had risen to 219.28 million, 196.07 million of whom have recovered, 18.66 million are active cases (105,789 in severe condition) and 4.55 million have died (up by 10,415).

Thailand ranks 29th on the global list of most cases, which is topped by the US with 40.33 million, followed by India 32.86 million, Brazil 20.80 million, Russia 6.94 million and the UK 6.83 million.

Published : September 02, 2021

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40005610

Phuket Sandbox not quite the resounding success as expected

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) said 26,400 foreigners have landed in Phuket since the sandbox scheme was launched on July 1, and only 0.3 per cent or 83 tested positive.

Phuket governor Yuthasak Supasorn said the sandbox scheme targeted 100,000 tourists in the third quarter but judging by the number of arrivals in July and August, the target may be impossible to achieve.

Phuket closed its borders to domestic travellers due to the explosion in Covid-19 cases across Thailand, while tourists from Europe and the US have kept the country off their travel itineraries because it is listed as a high-risk destination.

However, Yuthasak said the sandbox scheme was successful in boosting local confidence because very few foreigners had tested positive, and most were found at the airport.

Data shows that most tourists spent 11 to 12 days on average in Phuket before flying home. Over the past two months, 366,971 room nights were reserved in Phuket’s 400 SHA-plus hotels.

Meanwhile, a total of 462,968 room nights have been reserved since the project was launched – 190,843 in July, 176,128 in August, and 95,997 in September. Another 24,947 nights have been reserved for the high season from October to February next year.

Yuthasak said TAT is focusing more on the high season and will discuss new schemes with Tourism and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn soon.
The first 60 days of Phuket Sandbox saw 25,866 foreign arrivals, with nearly 7,000 from the US and UK. There were also many arrivals from Israel, Germany, France, the UAE and Switzerland, not to mention 3,335 local tourists.

The most popular destinations for tourists after they completed their first 14 days in Phuket were Bangkok, followed by Surat Thani, Chiang Mai, Prachuap Khiri Khan and Krabi.

Published : September 02, 2021

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40005608

First kratom extraction plant to be set up in Surat Thani

Kratom for Health company is planning to establish Thailand’s first kratom (Mitragyna speciosa) extraction plant in Surat Thani’s Ban Na San district and has earmarked 20 million baht for the project.

Meanwhile, the Prince of Songkla University is studying kratom to see if it can be used in place of the imported drug methadone to treat withdrawal symptoms of drug addicts. 

Songkram Buathong, chief of Ban Na San’s Namphu subdistrict, said on Wednesday that after kratom was legalised on August 25, Kratom for Health Co, Ltd showed interest in setting up an extraction plant there. The plant will produce food supplements, vitamins, energy drinks and chewing gum spiked with kratom extract. 

Songkram said the company will first set up an office to purchase kratom leaves from local farmers and will also establish a learning centre. 

“The company decided to set up a kratom procurement and production hub in Namphu subdistrict because kratom in the South is of high quality,” he said. 

Since the herb was legalised, the price of kratom leaves has soared to between 300 and 400 baht per kilo and the price of seedlings has risen three-fold to 300 baht per plant. Farmers, meanwhile, have started clearing rubber plantations to grow kratom as they believe it will become a key export item. The approval of an export permit for kratom products is still pending.

Published : September 02, 2021

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40005606

Recoveries higher than new infections, Health Ministry says, urging public to strictly follow health measures

The Covid-19 situation in the past two weeks has improved, with the number of recoveries being higher than that of new infections, while the number of hospitalised patients has decreased significantly, the Ministry of Public Health said on Wednesday.

Ministry permanent secretary Kiatiphum Wongrajit mentioned that the number of patients in Nonthaburi’s Busarakham Hospital went down from around 3,500 in the past two weeks to 1,500. Meanwhile, the number of patients in the Nimibutr Sports Building in Bangkok was less than 70.

Kiatiphum noted that Wednesday, September 1, was the first day the government permitted some businesses and restaurants in dark-red zones to reopen amid a relaxed lockdown, but everyone was still required to strictly abide by safety measures, including wearing masks, washing ones hands regularly and maintaining a safe social distance.

The objective was for the country’s economy to recover and for citizens to return to a new normal lifestyle, Kiatiphum said.

People have been advised to protect themselves as much as possible and avoid doing anything that puts them at an increased risk of contracting Covid-19.

Everyone has been asked to follow universal Covid-19 prevention measures:
– Only leave home when necessary
– Keep a safe distance from others
– Always wear masks
– Wash your hands regularly
– Avoid touching your mouth, nose or eyes
– Always clean and disinfect touched surfaces
– Separate your personal belongings after returning home from outside
– Eat hot or fresh food
– If you feel you are at risk, take an antigen test using an ATK set.

Kiatiphum said the situation in the coming two weeks would be closely monitored. The government will allow the reopening of more businesses and activities as the situation gets hopefully better.

Apart from this, he urged the public to get inoculated to create immunity for themselves and protect against severe Covid-19 symptoms or death if infected.

Published : September 02, 2021

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40005605

Police nab one of two suspected robbers on the run

One of two robbery suspects who made a slick escape from police custody in Chanthaburi last week was arrested on Wednesday.

The two wily suspects, who were held at Makham Police Station on August 27, grabbed the opportunity to make good their escape when an officer monitoring them left his station for a short toilet break.

The suspects were identified as Narin Ronnachit, 35, and Wichit Hinkao, 35.

According to police, the suspects allegedly stole motorcycles and dashed off to Rayong. They returned later to Chanthaburi, where Narin met with an accident.

Undeterred, he allegedly pinched another motorcycle before being nabbed around 2pm on Wednesday.

Police are now searching for Wichit.

Published : September 02, 2021