Security officials were seen patrolling the boundary and checkpoints in Kelantan, which is opposite Narathiwat’s Sugnai Kolok district.

People are allowed to pass into Malaysia at only two of the eight checkpoints along the border at that location, Thai authorities say.

The 200 dual nationals were deported back to Thailand after they were caught taking 50 Ringgit (Bt 400) each for voting, a border source said. It was understood that they would each get another 200 Ringgit if they managed to cast their ballots today.

There are significant numbers of people in border provinces of Thailand who hold both nationalities and their votes would increase the chances of victory for candidates in northern constituencies.

Northern Kelantan state is a stronghold of opposition to the Malaysian Islamic Party, commonly known as PAS.

The ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition led by Prime Minister Najib Razak is tipped to win the election against a coalition of opposition parties, led by 92-year-old former leader Mahathir Mohamad.

Mahathir headed the BN and was the prime minister of Malaysia from 1981 to 2003. He is leading the coalition with his protege Anwar Ibrahim, who was fired and jailed in the late 1990s. Anwar, who has been serving another jail term since 2015, urged Malaysians to vote for Mahathir.

The opposition hopes a surge of support from disillusioned members of the country’s Muslim majority can carry them to an unlikely victory.

They believe Mahathir’s connection to rural Muslim voters can trigger what they have dubbed a “Malay tsunami” and unseat Najib’s coalition after six decades in power.

Amid escalating anger over a massive financial scandal, Mahathir came out of retirement to take on his former protege Najib, upending an election race that had long looked like an easy win for the government.

BN candidates have never believed in the so-called Malay tsunami. Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said in The Star that Mahathir should be “taking care of his grandkids” instead of staying in politics.

Malays, who make up some 60 per cent of the country’s 32 million people, have long formed the bedrock of support for the BN coalition, and winning over the group is key to victory in the election.

BN has pushed policies that favour Malays over the country’s substantial ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities, supporting them with financial handouts and priority in securing government jobs.

The opposition, which has sought to project a more multi-racial image, has been unable to mobilise support among rural Malays, adding to difficulties of trying to unseat a deeply entrenched government.

But Mahathir’s decision to join the opposition is threatening Najib’s Muslim support base as anger grows over soaring living costs and corruption.

Despite the anger, however, Najib is still expected to win due to what the opposition claims is poll-rigging, and a system that requires only a simple majority of MPs in parliament to maintain power.

Malay complaints over rising costs and stagnant wages have been growing louder in recent years, especially in the countryside, and after the introduction of an unpopular sales tax in 2015.

The scandal surrounding sovereign wealth fund 1MDB has not helped, although in rural areas the complex controversy has generally taken a back seat to economic worries.

Kay Kimsong, editor-in-chief of The Phnom Penh Post, was fired on Monday by a representative for the newspaper’s new Malaysian owner Sivakumar S Ganapathy, a day after The Post published an article about links between his public relations firm and the Hun Sen government.

Representatives for the paper’s new owners ordered senior staff on Monday to remove from the newspaper’s website what they described as a “damaging” article that they said contained a litany of factual inaccuracies.

Five senior staff members – Managing Editor Stuart White, Digital Director Jodie DeJonge, Web Editor Jenni Reid, Business Editor Brendan O’Byrne and senior journalist Ananth Baliga – resigned in protest, as well as CEO Marcus Holmes.

Afterwards, Kimsong told staffers that Ly Tayseng, a Cambodian lawyer who represents the buyer, told him he had made “a serious mistake” in publishing the article and fired him.

Tayseng also informed staff that Joshua Purushotman would be the new editor in chief of The Post“ starting today” and that all articles would be approved by him.

In a meeting with staff, Tayseng and Purushotman defended Kimsong’s firing as a business matter.

“The business is losing money. We have [to] recruit the new editor in chief, and he’s coming to work starting from today. So we don’t have to pay two for the same position,” Tayseng said. “This is just normal business restructuring.”

However, during an internal meeting with senior staff, Purushotman told Post employees that the “article damages our reputation”.

Tayseng and Purushotman also declined offers to discuss the article’s alleged inaccuracies in detail.

Both insisted that paper would neither be pro- or anti-government going forward.

“We’re not pro-government, we’re not anti-government either,” said Tayseng.

The dual-language Phnom Penh Post was founded in 1992. The other independent newspaper in the country, the Cambodia Daily, closed in September last year.

Chad Williams, who served as editor-in-chief of The Post for nearly three years, called it “personally devastating to watch this afternoon’s events unfold from afar” but added that it “pales in comparison to the actual loss it represents for Cambodia”.

Williams noted The Post’s history of reporting on illegal logging, forced evictions and vote rigging.

Moeun Chhean Naridh, director of the Cambodia Institute for Media Studies, said the new owners overstepped journalistic ethics by interfering in editorial affairs.

“As an independent newspaper, editors should be allowed to make decisions,” he said. “The management shouldn’t have been involved.”

Huy Vannak, president of the Union of Journalist Federations of Cambodia and a Ministry of Interior official, declined to comment on what he called The Post’s “internal affairs” but added that Cambodia is “too free” when it comes to press freedom compared to neighbouring countries.

“Both the owners and the editorial team need to understand the direction of the business,” Vannak said.

The effect of the takeover was also felt in the political world. Former CNRP chief Sam Rainsy said he was “even more worried about the upcoming election”. Sam Inn, secretary-general for the Grassroots Democracy Party, which will be competing in July, said the takeover is “not a good development”.

Tearful staff members say goodbye to Kay Kimsong who was fired Monday as editor-in-chief of The Phnom Penh Post.

But CPP spokesman Sok Eysan said aggrieved staff should file a complaint against the new owners.

“If [Kimsong] does not file a complaint against them, it means that they have done correctly,” he said.

The mood in the office on Monday was grim, with staff visibly upset as they walked Kimsong out of the office.

Kimsong, who took the helm of the masthead in September after years as the editor of Post Khmer, told staff and reporters outside the office that he made “the right decision”.

“I am happy for running the front page today,” he said. “I think that is what the profession of journalism is all about – their job is telling the truth. The owner does not accept the truth.”

Chief of staff Chhay Channyda, a Post employee for 10 years, said she was in shock but would wait to see how the new owners manage the paper.

“I love The Post. I love the environment. I love the colleagues. And I love how free the press is at The Post,” she said.

“It’s been a sad day for me,” she added. “I’ve been here for about ten years to serve one of the country’s independent newspapers. But today The Post is changing. And I don’t know what happens next.”

The 44-year-old, who is known for his fiery oratory skills, stirred up the Sepanggar ceramah crowd on Monday (May 7) night, saying that those thirsty for change should support him.

“Don’t vote for me because I’m a Bajau, don’t vote for me because I’m a Muslim, and don’t vote for me because people say I am a ‘handsome boy’.

“Instead, vote for me if you think it’s time for Sabah to change,” said the Warisan Wira chief in Sepanggar with a dimpled smile.

He is said to be the toughest challenge for the smooth-talking, ever-smiling Abdul Rahman, the incumbent Kota Belud MP who has moved to Sepanggar.

Azis, who left Semporna Umno in 2016 to join Warisan led by Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal, also cautioned the people against supporting smaller, local-based parties, saying they have no chance of forming the government, even if they ended up winning all the seats contested in GE14.

He said this was because these smaller native parties, such as the four-party local opposition coalition Gabungan Sabah, are contesting fewer than 31 seats each, the number required for a party to form the state government.

“Although Warisan has a seat-sharing pact with Pakatan Harapan, Warisan is contesting 44 seats,” he pointed out.

Gabungan comprises SAPP, led by former chief minister Datuk Yong Teck Lee; Sabah STAR headed by Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan; Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah led by former Umno supreme council member Datuk Lajim Ukin; and Parti Perpaduan Rakyat Sabah led by Mohd Arshad Abdul Mualaf.

Sepanggar, encompassing the naval base, as well as the federal as well as state administrative centres, is a mixed area with migrants from all over the country settling there.

Located near state capital Kota Kinabalu, it is a mixed race seat with 62,415 voters of which 34,484 are Muslim bumiputra, 15,370 are non-Muslim bumiputra, 11,847 Chinese and 714 classified as others.

The Sepanggar constituency has two state seats under it – Inanam and Karambunai. In 2013, Barisan won the Sepanggar and Karambunai seats but lost Inanam to PKR’s Dr Roland Chia.

Sporadic traffic congestion was reported on Tuesday (May 8) along the North-South Expressway, Kuala Lumpur-Karak and Gua Musang highways, while traffic within the city is lighter than usual.

The Malaysian Highway Authority reported on Twitter that the biggest crawl can be seen on the Karak highway as voters head towards the north and east of the peninsula.

Selangor Traffic Investigation and Enforcement Department chief Supt Azman Shari’at, however, said traffic in the state was still normal.

He advised anyone travelling back to vote to be careful and courteous on the road.

“Follow the speed limit and don’t be in a rush,” he said, adding that carpooling is also recommended.

The refugees – who had fled fighting in Kayah state 27 years ago and had been living at the Ban Mai Nai Soi camp in Muang Mae Hong Son – returned home voluntarily.

They were sent across the border via the traders’ checkpoint in Ban Huai Ton Nun in Khun Yuam district.

They followed an initial group of 71 refugees repatriated in October 2016 and 73 others sent home via Tak on Monday.

Myanmar officials led by Colonel Myint Wai, Kayah state’s Minister of Security and Border Affairs, welcomed them back in a ceremony attended by Natapanu Nopakun of the Foreign Affairs Ministry’s Department of International Organisations and representatives of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

The Ban Mai Nai Soi refugee camp now holds about 8,000 people, down from a peak of more than 20,000. Many have found homes in third countries, while others returned to Myanmar.

A source at the camp said the latest group of 19 people should have numbered 29, but the others changed their mind following a report about Myanmar government light infantry being deployed to Kayah in mid-April.

The source claimed the same infantry battalion had pursued the Karenni National Progressive Army in 2005, with combat taking place just west Mae Hong Son.

The 73 returned on Monday follow 71 sent back in October 2016.

They crossed the border at Ban Rim Moei in Mae Sot district following a ceremony at which Third Army Region deputy chief Major General Supachoke Thawatpeerachai presided.

The 73 came from camps in Tha Song Yang, Phop Phra and Umphang districts in Tak and another in Kanchanaburi.

They were driven across the border in vans to be greeted in Myawaddy by Kayin state Chief Minister Nann Khin Htway Myint and other senior officials.

Myanmar Ambassador U Myo Myint Than witnessed the event and thanked the Thai government and agencies involved, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and non-governmental organisations, for taking care of the refugees.

And last month, a woman’s nightmare lasted nine days – the amount of time it took for doctors to remove a cockroach that had crawled into her ear while she was asleep.

Katie Holley, who lives in Florida, was jolted awake from the insect, and when she inserted a cotton swab into her ear, she pulled out small, dark brown pieces that looked like legs.

Together with her husband, she rushed to a hospital where doctors took 20 minutes to kill and remove the insect.

Insects such as cockroaches burrowing into ears are commonly reported.

Here are some other examples of foreign – and living – objects that have been reportedly found their way into people’s ears, nose, and other body parts.

1. LIVE COCKROACH IN WOMAN’S SKULL

What’s worse than having a cockroach lodged inside your ear? Probably the insect entering your body through your nose, and then subsequently making its way inside your head.

A woman in Chennai, India, underwent a 12-hour ordeal with the insect sitting on her skull, between her eyes, in February last year.

The 42-year-old reported experiencing symptoms of burning sensations and inexplicable pain.

“There was a tingling, crawling sensation. Whenever it moved, it gave me a burning sensation in my eyes,” she was quoted as saying by the Times of India.

The cockroach was so determined to make a home out of the woman’s head that it reportedly clung on to her nasal tissue even as it was being vacuumed out with a suction apparatus.

It took 45 minutes for doctors to remove the live cockroach from her nose.

2. PET PYTHON STUCK IN EAR PIERCING HOLE

Some people really love their pets, but for one woman in Portland, Oregon, having her pet python stuck in her ear gauge was a little too close for comfort.

In January last year, Ms Ashley Glawe posted on Facebook saying that she had to go to the emergency room because her ball python decided to slither into her gauged earlobe.

A gauged earlobe, a form of body modification, is an ear piercing hole that has been stretched over time.

“I like froze instantly,” the 23-year-old told news station WLS-TV. “I didn’t move because I really thought he was like attacking the side of my head.”

She tried to use cooking oil to free the snake, but it was futile. Firefighters were also unable to help release the python.

Eventually, Ms Glawe decided to go to the hospital, where doctors cut her ear slightly to remove the reptile.

3. SPIDER BUILDS WEB IN WOMAN’S EAR

It is believed that the spider had entered her ear after being disturbed by the woman’s fruit picking. PHOTO: DAILY MAIL.

A tiny spider which found its way into a Chinese woman’s ear was so comfortable that it wove a web deep inside her ear canal.

In 2015, it was reported that a woman in Xiamen experienced a persistent scratching noise and intense pain from inside her ear.

The 25-year-old had gone hiking with her boyfriend and picked fruit from a tree. It is believed that the spider had entered her ear after being disturbed by the woman’s fruit picking, reported the Daily Mail.

Doctors used medicated ear drops to kill the spider before extracting it.

4. COCKROACH GIVES BIRTH TO 25 BABIES IN MAN’S EAR

A man in China found himself in a doubly unfortunate situation when he discovered that a cockroach that had been giving him earaches had given birth to 25 babies.

The 19-year-old from Chang’an had woken up in the middle of the night with a painful and itchy right ear, reported British newspaper The Independent in 2015.

When a doctor examined his ear, he found a female cockroach measuring close to 8mm.

After removing the insect, the doctor found 25 more baby roaches.

It was believed that the female roach had laid the eggs inside the man’s ear “several weeks earlier”, according to reports.

The doctor reportedly said that if the man had sought medical treatment any later, his ear “would have been destroyed”.

5. FRUIT FLY LARVA FOUND IN WOMAN’S EAR

A fruit fly larva sought cover in a Taiwanese woman’s ear, according to the New England Journal of Medicine in 2014.

The 48-year-old woman visited the hospital for treatment after experiencing severe ear pain for one day.

Upon removing the woman’s hearing aid, doctors saw bloody fluid in her ear and a fruit fly larva moving around in her ear canal.

The skin near her eardrum had been eroded due to the larva, which was removed by doctors, according to the report. It took two weeks for the woman’s ear canal to heal.

During an event launching a study on Cambodian women in the media on Thursday, Kantha Phavi took time to highlight the work of well-known female journalists, but failed to name a female Cambodian journalist saying she tried to research but couldn’t find one.

Kuch Naren, an assignment editor at Koh Santepheap Media and a former Cambodia Daily journalist, on Sunday said she walked out of the event during Kantha Phavi’s speech.

“For me, I just felt so much sorrow for her for not knowing any outstanding Cambodian women journalists although she’s been a Women Affairs Minister for years,” she wrote in a message. “I can say that there have been a number of great Cambodian women journalists who have exposed many unreported stories such as trafficking women [for] marriage [in] China, land-grabbing and corruption and they are known by international audiences.”

One example, she said, is fellow Daily alumna Phorn Bopha, who has received the Courage in Journalism Award from the International Media Foundation for her reporting on illegal logging, she said. Bopha was in the forest with environmental activist Chut Wutty when he was shot dead by Military Police in 2012 near a protected area where he had repeatedly tried to expose illegal logging.

Another Cambodian female journalist, who asked to remain anonymous, said she was “pissed off” by Kantha Phavi’s comments. “Maybe she didn’t do research at all,” she said. “There are a few female journalists that have become accomplished and that I admire and follow their work.”

The journalist also pointed to Bopha as an example. “To me, she’s my hero,” the reporter said.

Bopha, however, said she wasn’t angry with the minister’s comments.

“I think it’s funny because I have so many female colleagues working in Cambodia and I also have friends who are female journalists,” she said in a message.

Bopha received a journalism fellowship in the US last year and is now interning for the AP in New York.

Reached on Sunday, Kantha Phavi said “there is no interview by phone”, and asked for an email to be sent to her ministry, but hung up before providing an address.

Ministry spokesman Pon Putborei said Kantha Phavi “meant that Cambodia hasn’t yet had internationally well-known female journalists”, but she acknowledged the importance of promoting an increased number of women in the media.

Citing diplomatic sources in Washington, the Chosun Ilbo reported on Saturday (May 5) that Singapore is deemed the ‘strongest’ candidate to host the summit, although there is still a possibility that Trump “who likes dramatic effects” would choose Panmunjom in the Demilitarised Zine at the last minute.

In its front page report, the Korean language paper also said the meeting will most likely be held in the third week of June (9-15), after Trump visits Canada for the G-7 summit on June 8-9.

Trump announced on Friday that a date and venue has been set for his meeting with Mr Kim.

“We’ll be announcing it soon,” he told reporters as he left the White House for a trip to Texas, without elaborating.

The two leaders are expected to discuss the denuclearisation of North Korea during their meeting, which comes weeks after Kim Travelled to the truce village of Panmunjom located in the North-South border to meet South Korean President Moon Jae In.

Speculation about the venue for the Trump-Kim meeting has been going on for weeks.

Kim reportedly wanted to meet in Pyongyang, but was later persuaded to travel to Mongolia, a country which has diplomatic ties with both the US and North Korea and is accessible by rail so Kim can travel there in his bulletproof train.

European countries Sweden and Switzerland have both offered to host the summit, but were ruled out due to distance from Pyongyang.

South-east Asian countries Indonesia and Thailand have also expressed willingness to play host.

US officials reportedly prefer Singapore, which is well known for its security.

Observers said Singapore stands out for its neutrality, efficiency and high degree of public order, and it has hosted its fair share of top-level meetings. This includes the landmark summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and former Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou in 2015.

Dr Lim Tai Wei, adjunct research fellow at East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore, told The Straits Times: “Singapore’s neutrality is a draw for both (US and North Korea). Public security is not a worry. Both Pyongyang and Washington have embassies here. The US is also favourable towards a location with prestige and glamour.”

Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, however, said on April 28 that the city state has not received any formal invitations or request to host the summit.

Meanwhile, the White House said that President Trump will host his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae In for talks at the White House on May 22.

“This third summit between the two leaders affirms the enduring strength of the United States-Republic of Korea alliance and the deep friendship between our two countries,” the White House said in a statement.

“President Trump and President Moon will continue their close coordination on developments regarding the Korean Peninsula following the April 27 inter-Korean Summit,” the White House added.

Last Saturday night, Duterte went to Greenbelt 5 after gracing the 51st annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) held at EDSA Shangri-La Hotel in Mandaluyong CityThe President went to the Jaeger Le Coultre boutique, Go said, but did not buy anything.

“Tingin lang kasi matagal na siya di nakaka-ikot man lang,” Go said in a text message.

President Rodrigo Duterte shakes hands with mall-goers when he visited an upscale mall in Makati City last Saturday, May 5, 2018. Photo from Special Assistant to the President Secretary Christopher “Bong” Go.

Videos circulating on social media showed Duterte, despite being under tight security, getting surrounded by mallgoers.

The President granted “selfies” with some mallgoers and even talked to some of them.

This was not the first time Duterte dropped by a mall to stroll and shop. In December 2017, he also went to Greenbelt to buy a bag.