The Bangkok South Criminal Court granted bail to former deputy Democrat Party leader Prinn Panitchpakdi on Friday. The temporary release, related to a case in which he was accused of committing a lewd act publicly, was granted after two hours of deliberation.
The bail guarantee was set at 200,000 baht and granted under the condition that he does not leave the country.
Prinn left the court immediately after the bail hearing.
The business exec-turned politician, 44, has been accused by 15 women of sexual harassment and assault. This is the first case to reach the court.
Police sought to have Prinn remanded until their investigation is completed, but the defendant applied for bail.
His lawyer Piranat Wongsawat told reporters on Friday that Prinn would sue the women who “came out publicly with false information”. The lawyer also expressed confidence in the evidence and witnesses available.
The government is considering carefully whether it should launch the fifth phase of the Khon La Khrueng co-paying scheme because the funds allocated to the subsidy are running out, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said on Friday.
He explained that the main point to consider is whether the subsidy should be given to every eligible applicant as was the case when funds were plentiful. He also hinted that the next phase may be limited to only those who are badly affected by the Covid-19 crisis.
“In previous phases of the project, the government made generous offers to every group of people. Each phase required up to 50 billion baht,” Prayut said.
“Now that the budget is almost all used up, the government needs to consider how far we can go with this project.”
The premier added that his government was using the national budget carefully and honestly, with money actually reaching the hands of the people intended.
He was speaking to the media after chairing a meeting of the Centre for Economic Situation Administration at Government House.
Prayut also dismissed rumours that the government will impose huge retroactive taxes on shops taking part in the co-payment scheme. He said only shops with high enough revenue need to pay income tax.
E-commerce platform Lazada issued an apology on Friday for allowing a TikTok clip created by two controversial influencers to be used for its sales campaign.
The clip posted on Wednesday had been created by influencers Nara Aniwat and Thidaporn “Nurat” Chaokuwiang to promote the platform for clothes shopping. The video depicts a woman in a wheelchair being bullied by another character of noble birth sparked an uproar on the net.
The #BanLazada hashtag became top trending on Thai Twitter by Thursday night, with many netizens slamming Lazada for mocking disabled people. Many royalists also threatened to remove the Lazada app because they found it offensive to the Royals.
Lazada responded on Friday morning, saying this was “an unacceptable mistake”.
“We fully recognise that the content was hurtful and demeaning to human dignity. As soon as we became aware of the incident, we immediately demanded the post to be taken down,” the statement said.
“Our brand does not condone the mockery of others including those with disabilities. It is absolutely unacceptable and a breach of Lazada’s value of being respectful and inclusive”
Meanwhile, Intersect Design Factory Co, which had hired the two influencers to promote Lazada’s campaign, said the Nara and Thidaporn had issued a public apology and taken responsibility.
Lazada, meanwhile, said this content had obviously not gone through the proper vetting process, otherwise “it would never have been published as it is against our values and principles”.
Meanwhile, the Advertising Association of Thailand also released a statement on Friday saying all marketing content should be released in line with the following principles:
All ads should be legal, honourable, honest and present facts
Ads must not go against morality and social rules, while those creating the advertisement must be responsible and under fair competition.
Consumers should not have a negative reaction or doubt the advertisement.
The association reiterated that advertisements should not be irresponsible, instigate anti-social actions, be disrespectful to human dignity, insulting to any individual or group, or be discriminatory. It added that consumers have the right to drop any product or brand that relies on offensive advertising and that the association will also drop the creators of that ad.
The former head of a controversial local administration in Samut Prakan province on Friday defended himself against an allegation that millions of baht were wasted in a project to erect decorative arches on pedestrian flyovers.
Songchai Nokkhamin, who was dismissed as chief executive of the Racha Thewa Tambon Administrative Organisation (TAO) last month, admitted that he was in charge of the project.
However, he said that the THB35-million project “did not cost the TAO a single baht”, as the contractor had failed to install the decorative arches at 11 pedestrian flyovers as had been agreed.
Under the agreement, THB3 million was to be paid to the contractor on each decorative arch being installed, according to Songchai.
He said the Department of Highways had allowed the Racha Thewa TAO to install the decorative arches in honour of His Majesty the King at 11 pedestrian flyovers in eight months — from June last year to January this year.
The contractor, who was identified by Songchai as Oly Group Co Ltd, failed to complete the installation at any of the flyovers, he claimed.
Several parts of the decorative arches were recently found abandoned in a Samut Prakan alley.
Songchai said on Friday that in January, he had informed Oly Group in writing about the cancellation of the contract, arguing that the contractor had reneged on the agreement conditions.
“After the contract cancellation, damages were asked from the contractor’s guarantor bank. I learned from the TAO that it just got THB1.5 million,” he said.
Earlier, the Racha Thewa TAO was known for its controversial project to install solar-powered street lamps at less-frequented locations. The power poles were decorated with the sculpture of Kinnari, a mythical half-bird, half-woman.
There were also other projects which drew criticism in social media when the TAO continued its unnecessary and overpriced purchases while the country was grappling with the Covid-19 crisis.
The price of electricity is surging due to a drop in LNG output from the Erawan gas field, former energy minister Sontirat Sontijirawong said.
In a Facebook post on Friday, Sontirat said since liquified natural gas (LNG) is the main fuel for producing electricity in Thailand, a drop in supply has resulted in the need to import LNG, which has become far more expensive due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
“The cost of producing electricity is higher, so people like us have to pay more for power,” he wrote.
The supply of LNG has dropped due to the recent transition of producers at the Erawan gas field in the Gulf of Thailand. He said this shift was about two years behind schedule.
The agreement calls for the new producer to supply 800 million cubic feet of LNG daily, but the current output is reportedly approximately 300 million, the post read.
“This means about 400 million cubic feet of LNG is missing per day or about 3 million tonnes per year, which we have to import. At the current prices, we have to pay a lot,” he said.
Sontirat, who is also co-founder of the new Sarng Anakot Thai Party, said the authorities should seriously tackle this issue as this drop in output could have been prevented.
“When I was in charge, negotiations with involved parties were close to being wrapped up and the concession handover was smooth. It’s a pity that things did not go as planned after I left,” said the former energy minister.
Sontirat, along with then-finance minister Uttama Savanayana and higher education, science and innovations minister Suvit Maesincee, walked out of the ruling Palang Pracharath Party in July last year. It is believed they left because Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan replaced Uttama as party leader, and Anucha Nakasai was given Sontirat’s secretary-general post.
The Erawan field is Thailand’s single largest gas producer, accounting for over 36 per cent of the domestic gas production in 2020 and covering some 25 per cent of total gas demand, official data showed.
The gas field was previously operated by Chevron, but the production sharing contract was later awarded to state-owned PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP).
Five elephants in Kanchanaburi province are suspected to have drowned after they were unable to climb out of a pond.
The incident happened nearly two months ago but their carcasses were discovered recently.
The Facebook page for Huai Kayeng elephants in the Thong Pha Phum district posted on Friday that five elephants were found dead in the pond. Their corpses had disintegrated and only their bones were left.
Pichet Chaisawad, the chief of the Lam Klong Ngu National Park, said he had received a report from villagers who had entered the forest that they had found five elephants fallen in a pond.
Lam Klong Ngu National Park staff went to the area and found that the incident had occurred in the Phra Ruesi conserved forest, not the national park area.
Preliminary investigation showed that the five elephants could have been dead for two months. Two of the carcasses were fully grown elephants, one of them was an adolescent and two were baby elephants. They said they could not identify their genders as the corpses had disintegrated beyond recognition.
The park staff and the village headman prepared a memo for the police daily report. They said the pond would be filled with lime mortar.
He explained that the incident might have occurred due to soil collapse. The underground layer was the tunnel from the mine. He said it could be dangerous to animals and humans hence the village should put up a sign to warn people.
The fourth phase of the government’s travel subsidy campaign “Rao Tiew Duay Kan” (We Travel Together) will accept an additional 1 million registrations, while the deadline has been extended from May 31 to September 30, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) said.
TAT Governor Yuttasak Supasorn said on Friday that the Centre for Economic Situation Administration has agreed to accept more applications and extend the deadline for the campaign after TAT had reported that the campaign had a leftover budget of around THB4 billion.
“This is an extension of phase 4 and not a new phase of the campaign, as we have not asked the government for additional budget,” he pointed out.
Under Rao Tiew Duay Kan, eligible registrants can receive 40 per cent discount on hotel rooms and restaurants, capped at THB3,000 per night. They also receive an e-voucher when checking into a hotel as well as a 40 per cent flight refund when they check out. The subsidy was originally capped at 2 million room nights and 600,000 air tickets.
So far, the campaign has around 130,000 rights left.
TAT expected to open a new round of registrations in June. The authority is also considering allowing registrants to book hotels that they have already visited in the previous phases to attract more registrations.
“Moreover, we are planning to launch the ‘Rao Tiew Duay Kan Plus’ programme, in which hotels are invited to open special rooms with up to 50 per cent discount to attract more tourists,” added Yuttasak. “The number of special rooms allowed under this programme will vary depending on the tourism industry in each province, whereas any hotel can participate on a voluntary basis.”
The civil sector condemned the Department of Children and Youth (DCY) for obstructing the investigation into child prostitution in Surat Thani.
On Wednesday, police raided 18 sites linked to the trafficking of young people, including a children’s shelter.
The raids came after 16 people were arrested in November 2021 for their role in a child sex trafficking ring.
Since then, the Social Development and Human Security Ministry, non-governmental organisations and the police identified and have been hunting for 18 other suspects.
If caught, they can face up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to 2 million baht.
Assistant National Police chief Pol Lt-General Surachate Hakparn told reporters that the investigation led them to the Surat Thani Shelter for Children and Families.
The investigation also tracked links to several officials, including a deputy director-general of DCY, chairman of a local savings cooperative, a deputy chairman of Phunphin district’s tambon administrative organisation’s council as well as soldiers, teachers and doctors in the area.
Surachate said an official going by the name “Aem” was found to have assaulted children at the shelter to push them into prostitution, while the DCY deputy director-general allegedly had a hand in hampering investigation into the ring.
The DCY deputy director-general has been charged with malfeasance in office and evidence will be submitted to the National Anti-Corruption Commission, Surachate said.
Ineffective solutions
Chuwit Chantaros, secretary-general of the Child, Youth and Family Foundation, said on Thursday that this case is shocking because most of those involved have a good social standing and some may even have political positions.
He said this is a recurring problem because those in power take advantage of defenceless children, and by the time the state steps in, it is too late.
However, he said, the biggest shock is that a state agency tasked with protecting children is doing the opposite – protecting the offenders. He said legal action taken against the DCY deputy director-general should be transparent and a new investigation panel set up comprising people from outside the bureaucracy.
He also said that the children at the shelter may be safe for now, but someone might use their dark influence on the victims’ relatives.
Gagging order
Ticha Na Nakorn, director of the Baan Kanchanapisek Vocational Juvenile Training Centre for Boys, said members of a citizen network and DCY officials had visited her for advice several years ago. She said at the meeting the DCY officials revealed that they had been instructed to not help police with human-trafficking cases.
This, she said, proves that authoritarianism and patronage are deeply rooted in Thai society and that it is time this root was pulled out.
Citing Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s aggressive style, she said the state has been generally ineffective in handling this situation. Ticha said the only way to solve this problem will be to get to its root by overhauling the bureaucracy and ensuring suspects are punished.
The Eastern Economic Corridor Office (EECO) insists that Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha had nothing to do with bidding for a major water project hit by corruption accusations.
Bidding for the water pipeline project to feed the EEC was carried out by the Finance Ministry’s Treasury Department, said the office in a statement issued on Thursday.
“The Special Economic Zone Policy Committee chaired by Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha played no part whatsoever in the bidding process or decision-making of this project,” the statement said.
It came in response to accusations of corruption levelled by Pheu Thai deputy leader Yuttapong Charasathien.
The opposition party said it will target alleged irregularities in the bidding process during the no-confidence debate against Prayut and his ministers expected in July.
Yuttapong alleged that the terms of reference for the bidding had been altered to favour the winning bidder at the expense of the state.
PM Prayut last Tuesday suspended the contract signing to allow a probe into the bidding process.
The contracts to operate three water pipelines in the eastern region – Dok Krai, Nong Pla Lai-Nong Khor, and Nong Khor-Laem Chabang – will expire on December 31, 2023.
The concession to operate the pipelines has been held since 1994 by East Water (Eastern Water Resources Development and Management Plc) under the Provincial Waterworks Authority.
City Hall expects more than 70 per cent of voters to turn out for the first Bangkok elections in nine years on May 22.
The last governor election in March 2013 saw a turnout of 63.98 per cent, while only 41.14 per cent of voters took part in the latest city council election in August 2010.
“For the upcoming elections of governor and city councillors, we expect a larger voter turnout as both elections are being held simultaneously,” Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) permanent secretary Khajit Chatwanit said on Thursday.
The BMA has launched a public awareness campaign via billboards and media inviting people to exercise their voting rights, he added. Songs, infographics and short video clips were being used to educate people about the importance of voting for their governor and city council.
“Most importantly, we have notified people who have moved house across districts over the last year to contact the registrar of their previous district before May 11 so that their names can be added back to the list,” he said.
About 44,200 voters fall into this category and must contact officials before next Wednesday or risk losing their right to vote.
People must meet the following requirements to be eligible to vote:
– Be Thai nationals, or naturalised Thais for at least five years
– Be over 18 years old, or born before May 24, 2004
– Be registered in a household for at least a year in the district where they will cast their vote.
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