A Patron is an honorary title given to those who support UNHCR and refugees by dedicating valuable time to disseminate information and knowledge. The role is to influence public opinion and change negative attitudes towards refugees and engage others to support the work of UNHCR.

The UN Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees Kelly Clements presented the certificates at a ceremony in Geneva.

Phra Vajiramedhi is known for his innovative approach to Buddhist teachings and his strong advocacy for peace and compassion towards fellow human beings through the concept “We are One, We are the World”, particularly in interfaith dialogues to support refugees.

He also supported UNHCR’s “Nobody Left Outside” campaign by hosting awareness and fund-raising events to help shelter 2 million refugees in 12 countries, including Jordan, Lebanon, Rwanda and Chad.

OUTSPOKEN lawyer Atchariya Ruangratanapong yesterday said he will testify against a Bangkok private hospital, which was accused of denying treatment on November 9 to a now-deceased acid-burn victim.

The lawyer is expected to deliver his testimony to a Public Health Ministry-assigned committee on Monday.

Atchariya also said he would lodge a complaint with the National Health Security Office (NHSO) to check on the hospital’s alleged use of villagers’ names as patients to get reimbursements and allegedly bribing a rescue foundation’s ambulance driver to deliver emergency patients to the hospital.

Meanwhile, Praram 2 Hospital director Dr Wallapa Chaimanowong, at this week’s second press conference yesterday, dismissed as untrue a report that the hospital was ordered closed for 15 days by the Department of Health Service Support (DHSS) due to a lack of quality or standard.

She said the hospital will exercise its legal right to sue social-media users and news agencies for publishing such false information and causing damage to the hospital’s reputation. She also called on the public to wait for the investigation results on Monday, regarding the hospital’s handling of the acid-burn patient.

As for news about DHSS ordering the hospital to close its outpatient building – which was modified from a carpark building without permission – and improve facilities within 15 days or face licence revocation, the hospital’s lawyer Surapat Prapaporn said this matter had nothing to do with the patient-related allegations. He said the hospital – which has been operating for 20 years – had legally modified the building and was submitting documents with the Public Health Ministry to prove that.

Atchariya, meanwhile, said the ministry-assigned committee – which will also hear the hospital’s defence on Monday – will decide on that very day if the hospital was guilty of violating the Health Facility Act regarding its handling of late acid-wound patient Chorladda Tharawan, 38, and what punishment should be imposed.

If the hospital is found guilty of breaching the act, its executives could be hit by a minimum two-year sentence in prison and a fine as seen appropriate by DHSS.

Other than testifying and filing a corruption complaint, Atchariya will also file a complaint with the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) on Tuesday.

He wants the BMA to investigate

the hospital, as he claims to have a list of people whose names were falsely used by the hospital to reimburse money as well as a document the hospital allegedly sent to rescue workers offering a bribe for patient delivery.

Meanwhile, Chorladda’s husband, 50-year-old Lop Buri native Kamtan Singhanart, was arrested on Sunday night under a murder warrant at his friend’s house in Nakhon Sawan.

He is currently under court detention pending police investigation.

But as the chairmanship of the Asean passed Thursday from Singapore to Thailand, Bangkok is hoping unrest will not spoil its year in the spotlight.

The annual Asean summit has become a major stop on the diplomatic circuit, even drawing leaders from the US, China, Japan and Russia.

Thailand’s chairmanship means Asean will be hosted by a military dictatorship the same year it plans to hold elections.

The kingdom is notorious for its fractious, disruptive and sometimes violent street politics.

Thailand’s generals will be desperate to avoid a repeat of 2009 when protesters from the pro-democracy “red shirt” faction smashed their way into the summit venue in the resort city of Pattaya demanding elections.

Pandemonium ensued, with a number of leaders having to be rescued from a hotel roof by Thai army helicopters while others fled by boat.

“It was chaotic,” one Southeast Asian diplomat who attended that cancelled summit told AFP.

Back then Thailand was riven by political tensions that pitted the “red shirts” — loyal to ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra — against their “yellow shirt” rivals, allies of the royalist and military elite in Bangkok.

In 2014 an ultra-royalist military clique again seized power, ushering in the most autocratic government Thailand has seen for a generation.

Junta chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha risks lifting the lid on Thailand’s political pressure cooker with elections slated for some time early next year.

That could usher in a return of Thailand’s traditional rambunctious party politics.

But Busadee Santipitaks, a spokeswoman at Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the country was ready to host world leaders regardless of the elections.

“We expect to host more than 170 meetings at various levels next year in Thailand,” she told AFP, adding “tentative dates” for the key summits were under discussion.

A second Southeast Asian diplomat said the Thai government is unlikely to let a repeat of the 2009 debacle occur.

“I don’t think they will allow another such incident to mar their chairmanship,” the diplomat told AFP.

Historically Asean tries to avoid hosting summits in countries the same year they hold elections.

Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a veteran politics commentator, said the 2009 debacle was a “fiasco, the lowest point in respected and recognized Thai diplomatic annals.”

He said while political unrest could never be ruled out in Thailand, the junta could make their ASEAN hosting duties easier if they deliver a clean and timely election.

“The junta has to ensure that the overall electorate is satisfied with the electoral process and timing,” he told AFP.

“If the junta manipulates at all costs to stay in power after the poll, it could elicit a popular backlash.”

The verdict – read at Bangkok’s Ratchadapisek Criminal Court – said the court agreed with the primary court that the evidence was insufficient to prosecute the defendants for racketeering and money-laundering.

However, it ruled that Fuan Travel executives Somkiat Khongcharoen, 59, Thawal Jaemchokechai, 61, and Winit Chantharamanee, 71, were guilty of violating the tourism and tour-guide laws and imposed a Bt500,000 fine.

On August 25, 2017, the Criminal Court dropped charges against 10 defendants on insufficient evidence of racketeering, money laundering and violating tourism laws.

The defendants included members of the Rojrungrangsee family and several firms, such as OA Transport Co, Bangkok Handicrafts Centre Co, Royal Gems International Co, Royal Paradise Co, Thai Herb Co and Baan Kanom Thongthip Co.

The case coincided with the authorities’ crackdown on “zero-dollar-tour” operators that reportedly offered Chinese visitors free or low-cost hotel and flight packages to Thailand. The visitors were then lured into buying overpriced services and souvenirs during the trips, which have allegedly damaged the reputation of Thailand.