The idea was born in the hope that police officers would act more compassionately if they better understood the sexuality, gender identity and gender expression of transgender people, as well as the stigma and discrimination they face.

The idea for the handbook was proposed and approved at a two-day workshop in Chon Buri that wraps up today.

The event was attended by about 60 people, including police representatives from target areas – Phuket, Chiang Mai and Chon Buri – as well as officers from the Netherlands who have worked with trans people under the “Pink in Blue Police Network”.

“Transgender individuals’ bad experience with police might stem from a lack of understanding about different gender identities,” Rights and Liberties Protection Department deputy director-general Kerdchoke Kasemwongjit said.

This workshop was held so police officers can become more aware about different gender identities, he said. However, he admitted that there is still a long way to go as transgender people face discrimination and harassment everywhere.

The event aimed to demonstrate that law enforcement can bring positive changes for transgender people by protecting their rights and easing their access to healthcare and other social services without discrimination.

Studies have found that trans people who face discrimination face a higher risk of getting HIV and other diseases as well as being vulnerable to mental health issues. UNAids has reported that the prevalence of HIV/Aids among transgenders in Thailand (Bangkok, Chaing Mai, Chon Buri and Phuket) was 13.8 per cent.

A joint study conducted by UNDP and Social Development and Human Security Ministry found that Thailand lacked guidelines on body searches, detention and imprisonment of transgenders, making them victims of mistreatment, harassment and violation by officials.

Lovita Ramguttee, UNDP Thailand deputy resident representative, said that despite the 2015 Gender Equality Act, trans people still do not have a state-issued document to support their gender identities. This puts them at the risk of discrimination and violence – a reality that prompted UNDP, Justice Ministry, other agencies and NGOs to hold the workshop in search of a solution.

Ramguttee noted that trans women faced a higher risk of being confronted by law-enforces because they were forced to work in the sex industry due to a lack of other opportunities. Prostitution is still illegal in Thailand. Trans women also face the risk of sexual and physical violence when detained with male inmates, she added.

Thitiyanan Nakpor, director of the Sisters Foundation, said most trans women have had either direct or indirect experience of police discrimination and no longer trust officers.

“We hope this workshop will lessen police bias against transgenders and improve their interactions and communication,” she said.

Even if a fall does not kill, it often causes serious injuries or disability.

“When an elderly family member falls, it is not just the rest of the family but also the country that has to shoulder higher medical expenses,” Dr Anucha Setthasathien said earlier this week in his capacity as vice president of Road Safety Thailand.

The National Institute of Emergency Medicine hotline centre answered 100,000 calls of an elderly person falling last year, and 6,000 of them succumbed to their injuries.

The actual number of such falls might be higher, because not all cases are reported to the centre.

Speaking at the 13th World Conference on Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion (Safety 2018), Anucha said falling was the second highest reason for death after road accidents.

More than 600,000 people are killed as a result of a fall across the globe.

In order to avoid accidents, Anucha said people should pay serious attention to keeping their homes safe, such as ensuring the toilet floor is not slippery and stairs have proper railings.

He also urged people to exercise regularly to maintain muscle strength and balance.

Izumi Kondo, a medical specialist at Japan’s Bureau of Rehabilitation Medicine, told the conference that Japan had tried to prevent falls by using technology and robots that helped the elderly balance themselves.

“People have cooperated with us on this,” he said.

Old Chinese technique

Duen Leilei, a specialist from China’s Bureau of Non-communicable Diseases, revealed that Chinese “Ba Duan Jin” stretching techniques helped people maintain their balance.

“We studied the Ba Duan Jin practice to see how falls can be prevented or at least minimised,” she said.

The study covered 1,500 people in China aged 55 and above, and findings showed that those practising Ba Duan Jin have a better balance and a lower risk of falling.

“Ba Duan Jin cuts down the chance of old people falling down,” Duen |said.

She added that people who have done Ba Duan Jin exercises for three months can maintain their balance twice as much as those who have never practised the stretches.

“Compared to those who have practised Ba Duan Jin for at least six months, the balance of non-practitioners is three times poorer,” she said.

THE PUBLIC HEALTH Ministry plans to significantly increase the penalty from Bt400,000 to Bt2.5 million for doctors defaulting on their required state service after they graduate from state-run medical schools.

The plan will be submitted to the Cabinet for approval soon.

Although the proposed penalty is much higher than the current fine, it is still half the amount initially proposed. In July, it was proposed that the penalty be increased to Bt5 million given the actual cost of educating doctors.

The Office of the Attorney-General (OAG) had recently nudged the Public Health Ministry to review the Bt400,000 penalty, which was first introduced in 1973. The low penalty came to the OAG’s notice when it was studying the draft of a contract that the Public Health Ministry planned to have medical students sign.

In response, the ministry set up a committee to determine the new rate.

Led by the ministry’s then-permanent secretary Dr Jedsada Chokdamrongsu, the committee revised the penalty to Bt2.5 million, taking into account inflation and the actual cost of training medical students.

The government requires graduates from state-run medical schools to work in government hospitals for at least three years.

It is believed that if the penalties rise, the shortage of doctors in the public sector will ease.

Choose to leave

However, the Medical Council argued that a high penalty would not necessarily keep new doctors in the public service. They may choose to leave due to other factors, such as their families’ needs, financial circumstances, work conditions and their team members.

According to a recent survey, just 3 per cent of fresh graduates from state-run medical schools say they prefer to pay the penalty in order to dodge the mandatory public service.

Of the 1,726 new graduates last year, only 57 said they did not want to work in the public sector, while 1,467 or 85 per cent said they had every intention to put in their three years of public service.

The remaining 202 said they were still undecided about their career path.

Hence, the Medical Council said that offering the new doctors reasonable pay, a good working environment, a great team and legal protection will motivate them to stay in the public sector.

“The National Anti-Corruption Commission [NACC] has promised to listen to opinions from all sides and efforts have been made to prevent the problems that may arise out of the new rule,” Teerakiat said yesterday.

He was speaking amid reports that several members of state universities’ councils had expressed an intention to resign over the newly introduced asset-declaration requirement.

Promulgated in the Royal Gazette on November 1, the new rule will take effect on December 2 and will require holders of key positions in the public sector to declare their assets to the NACC.

Presidents of state universities and their council members, as well as top executives of public organisations and state funds, and chiefs of the Armed Forces including the police force are among those who will have to declare their assets.

So far, the loudest protests appear to have come from the higher-education sector.

Mass resignations are expected at the councils of several higher-educational institutes, including Chulalongkorn University. Among high-profile figures to have already signalled their intention to leave their councils over the new rule is Constitution Drafting Committee’s former chair Meechai Ruchuphan, who will leave the Rajabhat Rajanagarindra University’s Council.

“It’s not that we do not welcome scrutiny. It’s just that preparing asset declarations is quite complicated and any mistake can lead to big trouble like asset seizure during investigations,” Rajabhat Rajanagarindra University council member Montri Numna said. He estimated that 12 council members, including Meechai, would tender their resignations on November 17.

“If such a huge number of council members leave, the council may lack a quorum to approve several key issues, including approval of degrees for graduates,” Montri said.

Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam, who was assigned by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to explore solutions over the issue, said he had prepared about 10 questions for the upcoming meeting with the NACC. “I believe we will be able to find some solutions,” Wissanu said.

NACC Pol General Watcharapol Prasarnrajkit said he expected the meeting to be held soon, so the issue can be settled quickly, perhaps as early as next week.

“In the meantime, we are in the process of gathering the opinions of affected people,” he said.

The University Presidents Council of Thailand is set to officially submit its protest against the asset-declaration requirement for universities’ council members to the NACC today.

It is claimed he lured his victims by using the photo of a handsome youth as his own profile picture in a gay chat application and then Facebook.

The authorities are now trying to provide remedial measures for the victims and are urging anyone else who might have been a victim of the man to file complaints with police.

Former Master Sergeant Chakkrit Komsing allegedly used obscene pictures sent to him by the boys to coerce them into meeting him. He is accused of then also recording the attacks on video for the purposes of blackmail, according to acting Immigration Bureau chief Pol Maj-General Surachate Hakpal in his capacity as deputy director of the National Technology and IT Crime Suppression Centre.

Using the man’s own notes about the attacks, police counted a total of 75 victims, 28 of whom were aged 13-18 and were clearly identified with names and home addresses in Khon Kaen, Udon Thani, Kalasin and Maha Sarakham.

 Police are now working with various authorities to locate and help the victims, he said, urging more victims and parents to step forward and offer information that might be relevant to the inquiry.

Chakkrit was immediately sacked from the 3rd Cavalry Division at Premtinnasulanon Military Camp in Khon Kaen following his arrest in Nam Pong district on Thursday.

The 14-year-old boy who filed the very first complaint claimed that he had met a military man after first chatting with him online.

The boy said he tried to leave because the man was clearly not the youth he had seen in the man’s Facebook profile photo, whereupon Chakkrit allegedly threatened to release the boy’s obscene pictures online and raped him in the car.

Surachate said police had established that Chakkri had been diagnosed as HIV-positive in 2009, began treatment in 2015 and started working at the Khon Kaen military camp just eight months ago.

Chakkrit has been charged with six criminal charges, including raping a minor under 15 (punishable with a jail term ranging from 4-20 years and a fine ranging Bt80,000-Bt400,000), molesting a minor under 15 with threat of assault (punishable with a maximum jail term of 10 years and/or a maximum fine of Bt200,000), and taking away a minor under 15 from his parents for lewd acts (punishable with a jail term ranging 3-15 years and a fine ranging Bt6,000-Bt30,000).

Deputy army spokeswoman Colonel Sirichan Ngathong said the army had handed the suspect over to police to let justice run its course as this was a case of individual wrongdoing.

She said Chakkrit was now in the custody of Khon Kaen’s Nam Pong Police and that Chakkrit’s former supervising agency – which has also set up a fact-finding committee into this allegation to run in parallel with the police probe – would co-operate with the police investigation and would ensure justice to both the accused soldier and his alleged victims.

She said if the soldier were found guilty as accused, he would face both disciplinary and criminal code punishments.

The Doi Suthep Forest Reclamation Network denied any involvement in the banners.

The municipality removed the banners from near Tha Phae and Chang Pheuk gates, both tourist popular sites, according to deputy mayor Natchudech Wiriyadiloktham.

The banners said in Thai: “Trampling on the hearts of Chiang Mai, dismissing the community rights and disrespecting Doi Suthep” along with the name list. There were apparently hoisted overnight.

The network’s co-ordinator Teerasak Rupsuwan said his group had nothing to do with the move, as it focused on reclaiming the site via legal procedures.

He said the act might have been sparked by comments from Prime Minister’s office minister Suwaphan Tanyuvardhana. The minister said some outsiders might want the housing estate preserved and that they needed 30 more days to find a solution. The comments might have angered some people who have access to the court staff names, Teerasak said.