In the first case, Ibrahim Bakayoko, who arrived on of Ethiopian Airlines flight ET628, was arrested after 63 packets of cocaine with a combined weight of 1,130 grams were found in his bag.

In the second case, Nozipho Nene, a South African, was arrested after she arrived ofrom Dubai on Emirates airlines’ flight EK418 from Dubai. Customs officials found four packets of cocaine with a combined weight of 1,000 grams in her bag.

He said there are about 320,000 inmates nationwide but just 14,000 prison officials. Of those officials, only 1,300 are guards, Narat said.

As a result, the government has approved 3,000 posts for prison guards and the Corrections Department has trained three new classes of prison guard.

The Corrections chief said the current prisons are crowded so the government has allocated money in the department’s budget to build two or three more prisons a year.

Prajin said 70 inmates who have been convicted of making guns or modifying gun-like objects have been selected to receive training to improve their skills. Of them, 33 will be selected for new jobs in the Royal Thai Army, Prajin said. Twenty will work as technicians while the other 13 will be designated service providers.

Prajin said the scheme was part of a Justice Ministry project to return inmates as “good people” to society. Under the project, the ministry tries to find jobs for released prisoners to meet their skills, or to find them work near their houses.

For example, the ministry will try to find some inmates jobs in hotels.

Pol Maj-General Ekkarak Limsangkas, commander of Special Branch Police Division 3 and head of the Police Ticket Management project, said traffic police nationwide would use the new traffic tickets from Sunday.

He said the new tickets had been sent to all police stations nationwide.

The new tickets have printed charges for police to tick so that police do not have to write the charges down. All the printed charges have English translations, Ekkarak added.

He said traffic violators can use the tickets to pay fines at Krungthai Bank counters, KTB ATMs or via KTB net bank app as well as counter services with PTM logo.

However, the motorists must wait two days before they can pay the fines as police will first have to record the copies of the tickets onto the online database of the Police Ticket Management system.

Ekkarak said each ticket will expire in seven days and motorists who do not want to wait can go to police stations and pay the fines.

In case of severe offences when a motorist’s driving licence is seized, the violator must pay the fine at the specific police station where the offence took place to get the licence back, Ekkarak added.

A Bt20 fee will be charged for paying the fine at bank and counter services, he added.

He said traffic police nationwide have been trained on the use of the new tickets and how to record them onto the PTM online database.

He said the PTM system would later be further developed to link with the online car registration system of the Land Transport Department so that the annual payment of vehicle tax would not be allowed if the car owners do not pay the traffic violation fines first.

Ekkarat said the system would also be developed for cutting points of drivers so that their driving licences would be suspended if they repeatedly commit traffic violations.

THE US has an expectation that Thailand, as a regional Asean country, would play a “constructive role” in the stand-off between the Western giant and North Korea at a time of sky-high tensions related to the latter’s nuclear weapons tests, according to the US envoy who visited Bangkok this week.

An expert on US affairs viewed the American diplomat’s trip as a reflection of the US State Department’s agenda to raise negotiation as a possible solution to tone down the Trump White House’s emphasis on sanctions and hard power military exercises.

“I think we should exercise both direct diplomacy as well as sanctions,” Joseph Yun, the US Special Representative for North Korea Policy, said yesterday. “That’s our policy based on pressure and engagement and we do want to engage in diplomacy.”

Yun was in Bangkok for two days to discuss denuclearising North Korea with Thai second-ranked officers.US envoy Joseph Yun meets with Thai Deputy Foreign Minister Veerasak Futrakul on Thursday

Though long scheduled, the meetings happened to be held just couple of days after Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that the US is ready to talk with North Korea without preconditions.

Yun has been going to Europe, Asia and Asean countries, namely Myanmar and Singapore, to promote the campaign against North Korea. He also went to Japan ahead of his visit to Bangkok.

On Thursday, he had a 30-minute meeting with the National Security Council (NSC) secretary-general General Wanlop Rugsanoah before talks with Deputy Foreign Minister Veerasak Futrakul.

Yesterday, he also had an informal lunch meeting with the Foreign Ministry’s director-general of the American and South Pacific Affairs department. The meetings were meant to be diplomatically friendly as Yun said there was no talk on tangible measures, enforcement issues or any specific request.

This could be despite last week’s report from a US-based think tank that Thailand might have facilitated continued trading by North Korean vessels.

“Obligations that govern what countries do are the UNSC resolutions. We will leave it up to the authorities in each individual country to deal with that,” the envoy said.

“We also looked at the data. There is virtually no trade, as the Prime Minister [General Prayut Chan-o-cha] mentioned, between North Korea and Thailand.”

He was referring to Prayut’s rejection of a report on Tuesday, when he stressed that Thailand did not help any shipment and had already stopped trading with the pariah country.

Prayut had said that Thailand’s actions are in compliance with the Asean consensus to follow United Nations Security Council resolutions.

During the first nine months of 2017, trade amounted to US$1.61 million (Bt52 million), a 94-per-cent drop from the same period in 2016, and a tiny 0.0004 per cent of Thailand’s total trade. Thai companies no longer have investments in North Korea.

Yun, meanwhile, praised Thailand for “playing constructively” at international levels. Thailand was also successful in encouraging North Korea to join the Asean Regional Forum during its chairmanship, he said.

“It’s clear that Thailand, as a US treaty ally and with its long-time connection with the Korean Peninsula, is a regional leader and has a rightful role to play,” he continued. “I would welcome all kinds of help. Any constructive help is welcome.”

Viboonpong Poonprasit, lecturer on international relations at Thammasat University, said that the US would expect Thailand to merely serve as “good offices” for negotiations without expecting prominent comments from the Kingdom.

“Thailand’s current geopolitical stance is not dependent much on either the US or China. So, it will be a good place to talk,” the academic said. “It is also not a party to the Korean Peninsular tension or the South China Sea [tension]. It is a rather neutral party compared with some other Asean countries.”

It would be wise for Thailand to follow the Asean consensus and international law and not put itself much in the spotlight,” said Viboonpong.

“It’s about maintaining a balance between major powers. The Thai junta has recently seen good signs from the European Union. So it’s better not to pull any strings for the authoritarian country.”

THE MILITARY-ESTABLISHED fact-finding committee has concluded that the death of 18-year-old cadet Phakhapong “Meay” Tanyakan was not caused by any punishment.

The committee, however, confirmed that Phakhapong was subject to inappropriate penalties at the Armed Forces Academies Preparatory School (AFAPS) during the 48 hours before his death on October 17.

Phakhapong’s family said the probe results did not provide any new insights. Civil-society group Cross-Cultural Foundation said the committee’s work suggested continuing efforts to protect members of military-linked units.

Phakhapong’s elder sister Supicha Tanyakan yesterday vowed to continue fighting for justice over her sibling’s untimely death.

She spoke up after the fact-finding committee held a press conference on Phakhapong’s case. “We do not believe that the penalties could have caused the death,” committee chair ACM Chawarat Marungruang said.

Supreme Commander General Thanchaiyan Srisuwan set up the committee last month, after Phakhapong’s family publicly raised doubts about his untimely death.

According to the family, Phakhapong almost died on August 23 because of punishment meted out by senior students at the AFAPS. There are thus grounds to suspect that Phakhapong’s death was related to inappropriate penalties such as headstands and more, they said.

While the Chawarat-headed committee invited Phakhapong’s family to a meeting next Monday to explain the results of his committee’s probe, Supicha separately said her family would have to go to a police station that day and would need to postpone the meeting with the committee.

At yesterday’s press conference, Chawarat said that Phakhapong had shown signs of hyperventilation and stress. Some of his cardiac muscle cells also had an abnormal size – something not usually found among teenagers.

He added that an autopsy by the Institute of Pathology at the military-installed Phramongkutklao Hospital had identified acute cardiac arrest as the cause of Phakhapong’s death.

Regarding damage to Phakhapong’s rib, Chawarat said it was possible that four hours of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) – done in the hope of reviving the cadet – might have broken his fourth rib.

Chawarat said his committee had interviewed 42 people before reaching its conclusions.

They included 22 AFAPS students, three medics, four administrative military officers at the AFAPS, Phakhapong’s homeroom teacher, and two physical-education teachers at the preparatory school.

The rest were ambulance drivers and some other school officials.

Chawarat emphasised that the four senior students who had ordered inappropriate punishment had already been punished themselves – losing good behaviour points and their status as commanding students. He said the removal of such a status was a big dishonour to AFAPS students.

Cross-Cultural Foundation director Pornpen Khongkachonkiet, said the committee’s conclusions reflected a tendency in the military to protect its own people and was a problem plaguing the entire military institution in Thailand.

“From the press conference of the military today, we can see that they are trying to help cover up the crime of some person in their institute. It reflects the bigger problem of the military – their culture emphasises protecting their own,” Pornpen said.

“It is normal for every organisation to have someone committing a crime. However, it is abnormal if the organisation tries to cover up the crime for these wrongdoers, which is an abuse of power.”

She urged the military to instead promote transparency in every case involving military officers. Regarding Phakhapong’s death, she said the military should stop influencing the case and let the justice system work independently. She also said it was questionable to allow the military to investigate itself, which creates an inherent conflict of interest in the investigation. A neutral organisation should be investigating the death.

It has been reported that in the past decade, only two of at least nine known cases of soldiers who had died while in a military facility had gone through the courts. The two suspects, Private Yutkinan Boonniam and Corporal Kittikorn Suthiraphan, were found guilty.

The latest incident concerns a winning first prize ticket in Suphan Buri province, where a 71-year-old woman claims she bought it, lost it … and then discovered to her horror that her neighbour had found it and received the winning money.

Pradub, a chilli paste vendor in Samchuk district, told police she bought ticket number 451005 from the ticket seller, Sankon Settapaiboon – and that her friend Kruawan witnessed the purchase.

However, she said she had then lost it during a funeral on November 29 and later heard that her neighbour, Pornthip Palawong, 35. Pradub also filed complaint with Crime Suppression Police about the case.

Yesterday police invited Pradub, Sankon and Kruawan to submit DNA samples to help verify the real owner of the ticket.

Police have issued Pornthip with a summons to go to Suphan Buri police station tomorrow. They have also asked the Lottery Government Office to send them the winning lottery ticket so they can check to see whose DNA it contains.

Similar disputes have occurred in Kanchanaburi and Buri Ram provinces, where people have asked police to help determine the true ownership of first-prize tickets.

The special suspension of a sentence is granted to convicts with serious medical conditions to allow them to have appropriate medical treatment and return home to spend the rest of their lives with their families, Narat said.

The order to release him was approved by Justice Minister ACM Prajin Juntong on Thursday. The department sent the letter of release to Police General Hospital where Somchai was being detained.

Somchai was arrested in Bangkok’s Pattanakarn area in January, 2013, after years on the run following corruption and murder convictions. He was sentenced to a jail term of 25 years on the murder case and five years and four months on the corruption case. He was jailed at Bangkok Remand Prison and transferred to Medical Correctional Hospital in the first night of his detention due to his illness. Four days later he was transferred to Chon Buri Prison.