Bangkok’s Ratchadapisek Criminal Court granted the 35-year-old Ong-art release on bail with the condition that he does not leave the country without the court’s permission after his lawyer posted a Bt400,000 cash deposit.

Ong-art also faces charges over allegedly false and libellous public comments made last December about the DSI, the agency that had been hunting for temple founder and former abbot Phra Dhammachayo in a high-profile money-laundering case. The former abbot remains at large.

Temple stand-off

The DSI said after the agency met officials to plan the arrest of Phra Dhammachayo, Ong-art made a public speech asserting that the DSI-led operation would lead to violence between officials and the temple.

The claim resulted in people perceiving officials in a negative light with a violent intent and as bullying the temple, with officials concerned that negative sentiments could lead to unrest, the DSI said.

The DSI’s case also said Ong-art had accused authorities of unfair treatment of the temple, including the suspension of the Dhammakaya Media Channel satellite TV broadcast.

Ong-art denied the accusation and said he would fight the charges in court, with an evidence review session to be held on February 26.

On April 25, prosecutors indicted the temple’s communications director, Phra Sanitwong Charoenrattawong (Wutthiwangso), 45, over charges of inciting public unrest in violation of the Criminal Code Section 116, libel in advertisements and posting false information on a computer over comments made from February 22 to 24.

The court will hear the case in June, while Phra Sanitwong has been released on Bt400,000 bail.

THROUGH his 55-day epic charity run, Artiwara “Toon” Kongmalai has transformed himself from a music celebrity into a national hero.

Recent public surveys show Artiwara is consistently ranked as 2017’s most admired person in Thailand, whether “the most popular” or “Man of the Year” depending on how pollsters ask the question.

One conclusion is inescapable – Artiwara, alias Toon Bodyslam, is no longer just a famous rock singer, but has become an inspiration seen as a dedicated and even great man in the eyes of the public.

“I feel like I am in a dream,” Artiwara himself admitted after completing his months-long charity run in Chiang Rai province.

The campaign was initiated by Artiwara to raise funds for state hospitals, with his marathon run starting on November 1 in Thailand’s southernmost province of Yala. When he completed his mission in Chiang Rai’s Mae Sai district on December 25, he officially became the first person to have run from the country’s southernmost border to its northernmost tip.

The much-publicised run, which covered a distance of about 2,215.4 kilometres, exceeded expectations in several ways.

For one, Artiwara initially hoped to raise Bt700 million, but by the end of the marathon donations exceeded Bt1.2 billion.

“I’d never imagined that I could have come this far,” he said.

Over the past two months, Artiwara also received non-stop media coverage daily and attracted new fans, expanding his support base massively.

But what made the charity run exceptional was that it made Thai society recognise people’s power to make a difference.

He has inspired others to also do good deeds and make contributions to society, in an ethic that might be expressed as every small step counts.

The momentum of the campaign has enjoyed a boost as celebrities such as Worachet “Chet” Empia, among others, also started charity runs to help Artiwara raise funds in provinces not included along his own route.

And while many made donations, others promised to use hospital resources more efficiently, with an acute awareness of state hospitals’ budget constraints.

When Artiwara first unveiled his plan to raise funds for state hospitals in an unprecedented run, many people openly questioned the idea, with some suggesting the campaign would fail to solve healthcare budgetary problems at their roots.

The target of Bt700 million was considered a relative drop in the bucket given that the annual budget provided by the government to state hospitals in general was about Bt300 billion a year. Critics said they believed donations were not the right solution as relevant authorities should try harder to manage existing resources and ensure good healthcare.

Artiwara was nonetheless determined to proceed, saying simply: “I will help where I can … I am more of a doer, not a talker.”

Born in 1979 and growing up in Suphan Buri province, Artiwara later moved to Bangkok to further his studies. He enrolled at the prestigious Suankularb Wittayalai School where with fellow music-loving friends he formed the successful La-On band.

After winning a well-known music contest for high school bands, La-On commercially released a few albums.

Although that band would later break up and Artiwara would later graduate in law at Chulalongkorn University, he never really left the music scene and in 2002 he and his friends founded the rock band Bodyslam.

As a prominent presence in Thailand’s music industry for two decades, Artiwara was inspired to launch the recent charity run after completing a similar event last year, when he was invited to join the Prachuap Khiri Khan-based Bang Saphan Hospital’s charity run. In just 10 days, that running event raised Bt85 million.

“I am not a professional athlete. I am just a singer who loves to run. But after the 2016 run turned out a success, several hospitals contacted me. So, I planned to do this cross-country run,” Artiwara said. “If you hold a concert to raise funds, you will have to cover many expenses and in the end hospitals may not receive much.”

The singer chose 11 state hospitals as the recipients of funds: Saraburi Hospital, Surat Thani Hospital, Khon Kaen Hospital, Chaophraya Yommaraj Hospital, Nakornping Hospital, Chiangrai Prachanukroh Hospital, Chaopraya Abhaiphubejhr Hospital, Ratchaburi Hospital, Nan Hospital, Phramongkutklao Hospital and Yala Hospital.

Most are large and relatively well-equipped, but Artiwara selected them because the facilities treat very

high numbers of patients. With better facilities at these institutions, more patients will benefit.

Artiwara started his run in Yala’s Betong district on November 1 despite the continued insurgency in Thailand’s deep South with supporters lining his route ever since, offering cheers and donations.

During the first weeks of his run, Artiwara often mingled with his fans, allowing them to take selfie shots with him, shaking hands and receiving warm hugs.

He interacted with the crowds less in the following weeks after the continual stops and repetitive motions contributed to injuries that he accumulated along the way. Many people, for example, accidentally stepped on his feet during stops along the route. Such repetitive contact inflicted painful injuries for a man who had to run long distances almost every day and he was forced to make some brief stops to nurse the damage.

Despite those hardships, however, Artiwara never complained, although he did admit at the end of his epic marathon that he had seen his mission as very daunting by the time he reached Prachuap Khiri Khan.

“I sustained several injuries,” he said. “But fortunately, doctors and physical therapists helped me a lot.”

He also thanked the members of his team for making his project a success and all Thais for their moral support.

“Without Thais, we would have not been able to reach Mae Sai,” Artiwara said at the end of his run.

Far from claiming credit for his marathon, he insisted: “I am not a hero. The real heroes are dressed in white and work very hard at hospitals. After donations reach hospitals, Thais will be the beneficiaries.”

In addition to the physical feat, that sense of humility has prompted a widespread recognition across the country with praise for Artiwara coming from all sides. Among his fans is Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha, who apparently holds no grudges after he was beaten by a wide margin in a recent poll on “the most admirable person” of the year.

Suphan Buri authorities have also passed a resolution naming one local road as Artiwara and another as Kongmalai in his honour.

Despite the intense campaign against risky driving behaviour such as drunk and reckless driving, reports of road accidents and fatalities continued to pour in from across the country, especially on the main highways, as people embarked on their holiday travels yesterday.

Interior Minister General Anupong Paojinda, who also heads the Road Safety Operation Centre, announced the official opening of the Road Accident Prevention Command Centre, marking the first day yesterday of the seven-day road safety promotion period until January 3.

Anupong said the slogan for the campaign was “Driving with thoughtfulness, respecting the traffic rules”. He said that during the period, the Road Safety Operation Centre, under the control of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department, would work in collaboration with all related agencies and local authorities to promote road safety in order to achieve the goal of decreasing the number of accidents, injuries and fatalities.

“We are focusing on controlling every risk factor causing road accidents – vehicles, drivers, road condition and environment – by strictly enforcing the traffic laws, monitoring dangerous driving behaviour, setting up more traffic checkpoints and managing the traffic to provide both convenience and safety to all road users,” he said.

He said during the early and late stages of the campaign, officers would prioritise inter-city highways because most people would be travelling out of Bangkok to their destinations across the country and then returning to the capital, while officers would focus on enforcing road safety on local roads during the interim period.

“We would like to urge drivers not to drive too fast, not to drink and to avoid using mobile phones.”

He said drivers should avoid driving when they were feeling sleepy and use safety equipment to save their own lives and those of other road users from fatal road accidents.

Meanwhile, the Road Safety Operation Centre also had duties to ensure the safety of public transport, as public vehicles and drivers would be examined before departing terminals, while officials would provide water transport safety and assist emergency medical services in case of accidents, he said.

Despite the road safety measures, road accidents were reported from every part of the country on the first day yesterday, with some fatalities.

One death was reported from a road accident on Highway No 37 to the South. The road was slippery due to the rains, creating dangerous conditions for driving.

Commuters ride in the back of a pickup after authorities permitted the transport mode despite acknowledged risks.

Six accidents were reported yesterday on the highway in Prachuap Khiri Khan’s Hua Hin district because of slippery road conditions.

High traffic volumes were reported on highways to the Northeast in Nakhon Ratchasima’s Pak Chong district and Prachin Buri, while traffic was still light on highways to the North.

Pol Maj-General Surachet Hakparn, deputy tourism police commissioner, said the Taiwanese man, who he identified as Chen Yuen Kai, was believed to be still in the country.

One arrested suspect, Paisal On-aim, 44, allegedly ran the operation and knew Chen from prison.

Surachet said Pol Major Jintana Suparb, 71, a former assistant nurse at the Police Hospital, alerted police earlier this month that she had been cheated out of Bt1.5 million.

The scam was divided into three groups pretending to be policemen, post officials and people hired to open bank accounts.

Jintana said she received a telephone call on December 4 from a man who claimed that he was a post official in Phitsanulok province. “The man claimed that I had mailed more than 30 bank books to a woman named Malee Insuk. He then said the money in the books came from money laundering.”

He then passed the line to a woman who claimed to be official at the Anti-Money Laundering Office (Amlo), who told Jintant to wire all the money in her bank accounts to her office for investigation, according to the retired officer.

She then went to Siam Commercial Bank’s Big C Sapan Mai branch and transferred the money to a bank account the “Amlo official” specified in three Bt500,000 tranches. After that, another person claiming to be an Amlo official called her, saying that he would transfer the money back to her the following day.

However, when Jintana told her neighbour about the transfer, her neighbour said she had been cheated and she notified police.

The 19 suspects will be charged with fraud and impersonating officials, while Paisal will also face a charge of transnational criminal activity.

Surachet added that there were 26 more suspects still on the run, five of whom were in a foreign country.

The rite was held at a temple in Sawee district at 1pm and attended by colleagues of the victim, Nontiya Kruajaturat, from Salui Community Hospital as well as about 1,000 villagers who knew her.

Nontiya had set December 24 as her wedding day with Ronnachai Panchart, 26, and posted her pre-wedding photos and wedding card on Facebook, inviting guests to attend.

However, her body was found with a single gunshot wound to her chest in her room in the hospital on the morning of December 19.

Police subsequently arrested Ronnachai and his new girlfriend, Naruemon Chuaysombat, after learning of his earlier attempt to convince Nontiya to cancel the wedding, which she reportedly refused to do.

Ronnachai reportedly confessed that he had killed Nontiya because she insisted on the marriage and reportedly had followed him and Naruemon and made a series of threats.

Naruemon was detained and charged after police found that she bought the gun Ronnachai allegedly used to kill Nontiya for Bt7,000.

Nontiya’s father, Chao Kruajaturat, said during the cremation that he was starting to come to terms that his daughter was gone and glad that the cremation had been attended by people who loved his daughter.

He also referred to Ronnachai and Naruemon, who have been charged with premeditated murder, saying they would be punished for their wrongdoing.

Her mother, Somsri Kruajaturat, said in tears that she missed her daughter dearly and wished that her daughter in death would not be spiteful against the killers. “I wish that my daughter forgives them. In the trial against the killers, I hope that they face the death sentence,” she said.

At the front area of the cremation, a pink board with roses initially intended to decorate Nontiya’s wedding was placed.

Ronnachai’s relatives did not attend the cremation.

Aslan Doloh, 34, wanted under an arrest warrant issued by the Yala Court on December 18, was nabbed at his home in Pattani and sent for interrogation at a military unit in Pattani as per the Emergency Decree.

On December 17, armed militants commandeered the bus and ordered out all 16 passengers before setting fire to the vehicle. No passengers were physically harmed.

Four suspects were earlier captured by security authorities.

The bomb went off at 7.25am near a bridge in Ban Sawor Hilae (Moo 6) in Tambon Sawor, as the last ranger passed within 10 metres of the explosion, which was focused in another direction.

Police officers inspecting the scene found a 30cm-deep, 1.2-metre-wide crater with bomb fragments.

They said they suspected the explosives were placed in a 10-kilogram metal box and detonated by radio.

Police believe the explosion was part of disturbances ahead of the New Year festival.

Photos of the family – with children aged 2, 6, 7 and 11 – circulated on the social media this week, prompting calls for their predicament to be resolved.

Bureau deputy spokesman Pol Colonel Cherngron Rimpadee said it had been determined that Muvadi Rodrick’s family arrived in Thailand in May and overstayed their tourist visas by five months.

The overstay was discovered on October 23 when they sought to leave Thailand to fly to Barcelona, Spain.

They were fined and an airline was asked to fly them back to Zimbabwe, but the family claimed their safety would be at risk amid their homeland’s unrest, Cherngron said.

On November 7, the family bought airfare to a third country, but on November 13, Ukraine, where they stopped in transit, sent them back to Thailand.

They have been living since then within the departure terminal at Suvarnabhumi under the care of airline staff while their application for refugee status is being processed.

They were being well taken care of and were not being held in a detention hall, as is the case with foreigners awaiting deportation, Cherngron stressed.

“The Immigration Police Bureau received a letter from the UN refugee agency’s office in Thailand saying this group had been registered as applicants for refugee status and the process was underway,” he said. UN officials have interviewed them and was asking relevant agencies to provide humanitarian aid.

The family’s predicament came to light when Facebook user Kanaruj Artt Pornsopit, who said he works at the airport, posted a photo of himself with the six-year-old, who’d asked him to bring her a Christmas present.

National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand director Saran Poshyachinda said on Wednesday that the next Super Full Moon would appear in the night sky on January 2, as the moon approaches the Earth at a distance of only 356,595 kilometres.

Saran said the full moon would appear slightly larger than the last super moon on December 3, while compared to a normal full moon it would appear 7 per cent larger and 16 per cent brighter.

He added that the moon would be visible on the eastern horizon beginning at 6pm.

He also encouraged people to go to four National Astronomical Research Institute observation centres in Chiang Mai, Nakhon Ratchasima, Songkhla and Chachoengsao where telescopes would be available to view the moon’s geographical features.

People can also go to 260 schools in the National Astronomical Research Institute’s network across the country where telescopes would also be available, he said.