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https://www.nationthailand.com/thailand/politics/40024567

Pheu Thai campaign office rocked by ‘ping-pong bomb’

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 02, 2023

The opposition Pheu Thai Party alerted police on Thursday after a small handmade bomb was thrown at a campaign billboard erected outside its office in Bangkok’s Don Mueang district.

Suthanapoj Kijthanapitak, who is tipped to be Pheu Thai’s election candidate for the Don Mueang constituency, said that a pillion rider on a motorcycle threw a “ping-pong bomb” at the signboard outside his campaign office in the morning.

“Luckily, nobody was hurt,” he said, adding that the billboard was just erected on Wednesday.

The large signboard appeared to be undamaged by the explosion.

The politician said that he was concerned about the people living in the neighbourhood. He asked police and community leaders to increase safety measures for residents.

Suthanapoj is expected to contest the next general election under Pheu Thai’s banner, replacing its former MP Karun Hosakul, who left the core opposition party to join the newly formed Thai Sang Thai Party.

In the afternoon, Puangpet Chunlaiad, the Pheu Thai member in charge of the party’s campaign in Bangkok, visited the Don Mueang office to inspect the damage.

She said that Pheu Thai filed a police complaint about the incident, adding that an investigation was underway to find the culprit.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/thailand/politics/40024565

Supreme Court issues arrest warrant for former DSI chief

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 02, 2023

The Supreme Court on Thursday issued an arrest warrant for Tarit Pengdit, a former Department of Special Investigation (DSI) director-general, after he failed to attend the reading of a verdict in a criminal case against him.

Tarit requested seven postponements of the court’s reading of the verdict over the past year.

In April last year, the Supreme Court granted his request for postponement after he informed the court that he was being treated for Covid-19.

In his latest request submitted on Wednesday, Tarit said he needed three more months for treatment of kidney disease.

His lawyer informed the court that Tarit underwent an operation at Siriraj Hospital on January 29 and needed time for recovery and medical monitoring.

Tarit and three other DSI officers are accused of abuse of power and malfeasance by former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and his deputy premier Suthep Thaugsuban for filing murder charges against them over the crackdown on red-shirt protests in 2012.

In March 2020, the Appeals Court overturned the Criminal Court’s acquittal of Tarit and sentenced him to two years in prison. The three other DSI officers were also found guilty of malfeasance and given two-year terms.

The court found them guilty of abuse of authority in favour of the Yingluck Shinawatra government, which succeeded Abhisit’s Democrat-led administration.

After considering the documents submitted by the defendant, the Supreme Court on Thursday found that his doctor’s letter did not state that Tarit’s condition was so serious that he could not attend the court hearing on Thursday.

The court said the defendant had made multiple requests for postponement over the past year. This could be considered a delaying tactic to allow the defendant time to escape, so the court issued a warrant for Tarit’s arrest to force him to attend the verdict reading.

The Supreme Court scheduled March 24 for its reading of the verdict in Tarit’s case. His surety of 300,000 baht was seized and the court ordered his guarantor to pay a fine within 15 days.

The three other defendants showed up for the court’s hearing on Thursday.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/thailand/politics/40024558

Move Forward Party alleges Air Force flew two F16s for private funeral rite

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 02, 2023

The Move Forward Party alleged on Thursday that the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) wasted more than 200,000 baht by flying two F16 fighter jets during post-cremation rite for the father of a former Air Force chief last year.

Two MPs from the opposition party, Phicharn Chaowapatanawong and Nattacha Boonchaiinsawat, and one of the party’s tentative candidates for a Bangkok constituency, Tanadej Pengsuk, made the allegation during a press conference at the Parliament.

They backed up the allegation with a video clip they claimed they received from an RTAC officer who was angered that state property was being diverted for personal use.

Tanadej said the incident took place in August last year during the ashes scattering rite of the father of former Air Force chief Napadej Dhupatemiya.

The clip showed two F16s were flown over the ceremony.

Tanadej said it costs 120,000 baht per hour to fly an F16 so the RTAF would have to pay 240,000 baht for the two jets.

Phicharnn said the Cabinet had banned the diversion of state property for personal use.

He said Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha must be held responsible for the alleged abuse because he is also defence minister.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/thailand/politics/40024528

Election watchdog rebuts charge it is changing the rules

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 01, 2023

The formula and practices for distributing House seats and dividing constituencies in the upcoming election has been in use since 2015, an election commissioner said on Wednesday.

Commissioner Pakorn Mahannop made the comment at a press conference in response to criticism from Somchai Srisutthiyakorn, a former election commissioner and now a member of the Seri Ruam Thai Party.

Somchai had said it was wrong for the commission to count stateless residents as part of the population figure used to divide constituencies, after the commission announced on Tuesday its formula for distributing House seats.

Pakorn said law-abiding but stateless residents of Thailand have been part of the population figure used for calculating the number of MPs since 2015, following advice from the Council of State.

The Council of State advised the commission that stateless people, who live legally in the country, must be counted as part of the population for calculating House seats. Pakorn said the commission also divided and distributed House seats for the 2019 general election based on this advice.

The commission announced on Monday it had approved the distribution of 400 House seats for 400 constituencies nationwide based on Thailand’s population of 66,090,475. That figure was announced by the Provincial Administration Department on December 31.

The commission then distributed the number of constituencies based on the formula of one for 164,226 Thais.

The new MPs Election Act increased the number of constituencies from 350 to 400.

As a result, Bangkok will have 33 MPs. Nakhon Ratchasima province will have 16. Khon Kaen, Chiang Mai and Ubon Ratchathani provinces will have 11 each, while Chonburi province will have 10.

Pakorn also said that the commission on Monday had approved five directives on the election and political parties, and that these will be published soon in the Royal Gazette so that they will take effect before the upcoming election.

The commission has set a tentative election date for May 7 on the condition that the House is not dissolved before it concludes its four-year tenure on March 22.

Pakorn said the commission has several more steps to implement for the election. They are:

– Provincial and Bangkok election directors will fit districts, tambon or villages into the number of constituencies distributed to each province. The dividing of the constituencies in provinces and Bangkok must be done in three forms at least and done in three days.

– The three forms of constituencies must be published in the provinces for local people and political parties contesting in the provinces to express opinions. The announcements on public notice boards in the provinces must be made from February 4 to 13.

– Provincial election committees must gather opinions and report them to the commission for consideration.

– The commission will hold a meeting to select one form for dividing each province’s constituencies.

– The finalised list of constituencies for the election will be published in the Royal Gazette.

Pakorn said the commission had plenty of time to hold the election. If the House completes its four-year tenure, the election will be held 45 days later, he said. If the House is dissolved before this, the election will be held 60 days later, he added.

Provincial committees will not gerrymander constituencies to benefit any political party – as feared by some parties – but will create the boundaries of constituencies fairly, Pakorn said.