LEGALISING CANNABIS for medical use is a New Year’s gift to transnational pharmaceutical companies, not the Thai public, activists said yesterday.

BioThai Foundation and FTA Watch insisted again yesterday that all patent applications for cannabis-based medications be removed from the Department of Intellectual Property (DIP)’s system within a month. Their argument is that local research agencies will not be able to develop cannabis-based medicines and Thai patients will end up having to rely on expensive versions created by international pharmaceutical giants.

Withoon Lienchamroon, director of Biothai Foundation, said Thailand was running out of time to solve issues related to patents for cannabis-based drugs, and insisted that all problematic applications on cannabinoid medications had to be removed before the newly amended Narcotic Drugs Act is enforced.

The National Legislative Assembly approved the limited use of cannabis and kratom for medical purposes on Christmas Day.

“This is our last chance to solve the problem of patent registration in order to ensure full benefits for Thai society from this progressive reform,” Withoon said. “Even though the government seems to have realised the seriousness of the problem and is implying that it will not enforce this law until the cannabis patent problem is solved, we feel they are too slow in tackling this issue.”

Hence, he said, the Commerce Ministry should set up a committee that includes representatives from the academic and public sectors to urgently and transparently deal with this problem within a month.

Clear timeframe needed

“We want the ministry to set up a clear timeframe and roadmap to tackle the patent issue. We also strongly urge the government to not use the absolute power of Article 44 to solve this problem, because it is not recognised internationally and pharmaceutical giants can sue the country,” he warned.

BioThai Foundation said in a statement that even though many organisations and academic institutions have been actively protesting against the patents, not one of the 10 patent applications in DIP’s system have been removed, including the three applications that had been reportedly rejected.

If the issue is not dealt with in time, BioThai cautioned that the owners of these patents will end up using Thailand’s own intellectual property protection laws to hinder local cannabis medicine development efforts. Patent holders can protect their innovation under Article 35 of the Intellectual Property Protection Act.

Biothai also said that once the patents are approved, international pharmaceutical giants will have absolute control over the manufacturing, distribution and sales of their cannabis-based medicines, which will force Thai patients to rely on expensive, imported cannabis-based medication.

Meanwhile, Commerce Minister Sontirat Sontijirawong said his ministry will discuss the issue with related agencies after the New Year period to find a solution to this problem.

“There is a total of 31 patent applications for cannabis medicines in our system and we need to thoroughly check these applications to see which ones are eligible. This process can be time-consuming,” Sontirat said.

The LGBT community, on one hand, slams the bill for not recognising their rights – now limited to heterosexual couples – to adopt a child, receive a spouse’s public and private welfare, and a deduction from taxes for couples.

“People are celebrating, thinking that LGBT people will eventually be able to get married. But the reality is the legislation does not recognise many of their rights and benefits. [The law] is discriminatory in many areas,” said former National Human Rights commissioner activist Naiyana Supapung.

The draft legislation violates the Constitution and the 2015 Gender Equality Act forbidding laws that limit any right or benefit for a person based on their gender, says Naiyana. To ensure true equality, we must amend the Civil Code to define marriage, as a union of two individuals rather than limit it to a male and a female, she said.

Those charged with drafting the Life Partnership law, argue that Thailand needs to go step by step and make compromises because of the different views on the issue.

A source inside the Justice Ministry, whose department – the Rights and Liberties Protection Department (RLPD) – was charged with drafting the bill, pointed to the beliefs of religious and conservative groups.

Despite strong support from the society at large, people in the Muslim-majority southern provinces are against the bill for religious reasons, and voiced their opposition at a recent public hearing in Hat Yat, Songkhla Province, he said.

Also, people occupying high government positions, as well as legislators in the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) appointed by the junta government, “may still hold conservative views towards this radical change”, he said.

As a result, some rights are excluded. The right for LGBT couples to receive medical welfare if their spouse is a civil servant, for example, are excluded as it may impact the Finance budget and allow ill-intended people to exploit the law, he said.

“It is a challenge. But it is an opportunity for those in the NLA to prove themselves to the society,” he said. The Life Partnership Bill now sits in a long line of 50 bills awaiting consideration and a vote by the Assembly before an election is called and a new government takes office, he said.

The Life Partnership Bill recognises the rights of LGBT couples to jointly manage debts and assets, inherit their spouse’s inheritance, and become a guardian for their spouse. The right to make medical decisions and hold funerals for a spouse were recently added to the bill.

The bill, however, does not recognise the right to adopt a child, receive a spouse’s public and private welfare, or receive the pension, civil-servant medical welfare or spouse-status for income tax deductions, among other omissions.

The NLA has also said it has a backlog of 50 bills to deliberate on, so the new civilpartnership bill may not be passed in the current session, which wraps up on February 15, one week before the general election.

“I lost 11 family members in that tsunami and I could not locate all their bodies,” Pranee Kaewdecha said, as she brought white roses to a tsunami memorial at Ban Nam Khem in Phang Nga province.

She said laying flowers was the only thing she could do to have the feeling as if her family members were still with her.

Ban Nam Khem was among the hardest-hit spots when giant waves crashed onto the shores of Thailand’s Andaman provinces on December 26, 2004. After the waves disappeared, more than 5,000 people were also gone.

“I have decided to never step into seawater again because the sea took away my four-year-old child,” said a grief-stricken mother.

David Rucker, an American, said he still could not get over the heartbreaking loss inflicted by the tsunami on Thailand. While his family members and close friends were visiting Phang Nga, devastating waves hit and killed them.

“Because of what happened, I have come here every year to mourn the passing of my loved ones,” he said.

Services remembering the tsunami victims were held in six southern provinces of Thailand, because they all shared in this tragedy.

In Krabi’s Muang district, more than 500 people gathered to make merit for those who died on what much of the world calls the Boxing Day Tragedy. Religious services were conducted based on Buddhist, Christian and Islamic beliefs.

“We come here not only to remember those who are gone but also to keep in mind that one should be well prepared to deal with natural disasters that may arise,” Deputy Krabi Governor Somkuan Khan-ngern said.

In the aftermath of the deadly waves, early-warning towers have gone up in Thailand.

“In Phuket alone, we have 19 such towers,” Phuket’s disaster-prevention-and-mitigation chief Praphan Khanprasaeng said.

According to him, each tower’s warning signal can cover an area within a radius of one or two kilometres. The signal has been tested every Wednesday.

“Our early-warning system for a tsunami threat is 100 per cent efficient,” Praphan said.

He said if a tsunami threat was detected, the National Disaster Warning Centre would issue an early warning and people in risky areas would be evacuated.

Praphan added that evacuation routes had already been prepared to ensure swift action in times of emergency.

According to him, the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department will organise tsunami-related evacuation drills in April in six southern provinces – Phang Nga, Krabi, Phuket, Ranong, Trang and Satun – along the Andaman Sea.

“Local officials of the department are now surveying buildings along the coast to determine which structures are safe enough to shelter evacuated people. Elderly and physically challenged people should be near the safest spot,” he said.

The memorial services in Phuket attracted people of various nationalities including Chinese, Japanese, Americans, Australians and Germans.

Although Thailand has not yet seen another tsunami, tidal waves have hit its neighbour Indonesia several times. The latest tsunami tragedy to strike Indonesia took place last Saturday, killing hundreds of tourists and locals.

The decision was made after the Court in Thong Pa Phum district finished the defendants’ witness hearings.

Lawyers for both sides are scheduled to deliver closing statements by January 25 and the Court set March 16 at 9am to announce the sentence.

The first defendant in the case was Premchai Karnasuta, the top executive of Italian-Thai Development company listed on Thailand’s stock market.

Premchai and three others defendants who are his close aides were arrested at their campsite in Thung Yai Naresuan wildlife sanctuary in Kanchanaburi in early February.

The three others were Premchai’s close aide Yong, his driver Thanee Thummart, and cook Natee Riemsan.

The discovery of freshly-butchered protected animals, including a black leopard, caused public outrage, particularly after early reports suggested he might have gained access to the site due to personal connections with authorities.

The tycoon and other defendants were accused in a series of charges relating to poaching. Netizens wondered whether the accused would go unpunished due to Premchai’s close contact with people in high places.

Many civil networks and non-governmental organisations have therefore come out to campaign against Premchai and demanded that the authorities refrain from helping him evade prosecution.

“Don’t let the black leopard die for nothing,” was among the most shared campaigns on social network platforms.

His Italian-Thai Development company has won contracts with several governments and boasts a policy of environmental protection.

A prominent public sentiment is that the tycoon will evade prosecution or conviction thanks to his personal and business connections with influential people.

Premchai’s lawyer Witoon Yamprai told reporters at the courthouse yesterday that the witnesses testifying initially would be Premchai’s former aide Thanee Thummart and Noppadon Pruksawan, former director of the Marine National Parks Department.

Noppadon reportedly asked authorities to allow Premchai to enter the wildlife sanctuary for an “environmental study” trip.

However Thanee and Noppadon failed to appear in the Court/ Witoon said Thanee suffered from high blood pressure while he did not give reasons for Noppadon’s absence.

In a marathon 15-hour verdict reading, Min Buri Provincial Court found Siam Commercial Bank (SCB)’s former branch manager Songklod Sriprasong, 43; KMITL’s finance department director Amporn Noiprasit, 59; and nine others guilty of the charges.

Thawil Puengma

Three other defendants in the case – including the university’s former rector Thawil Puengma – were acquitted.

Public prosecutors pressed charges against the 14, accusing them of theft, forging and using official documents, embezzlement or aiding in embezzlement, malfeasance and money laundering. The alleged offences took place between 2012 and 2014.

The 14 defendants were accused of embezzling Bt689 million from KMITL and laundering Bt303 million – charges that they all denied.

The defendants were mainly executives of the bank or senior officials of the university at the time the alleged wrongdoings were committed.

The court reduced the jail term by a quarter of the original sentence to all those convicted because their testimonies were considered “beneficial to the case’s trial”.

Yesterday, Amporn was sentenced to 203 years in jail, but the court reduced the term to 152 years and three months. The court also ordered her to compensate KMITL for Bt80 million and pay back Bt608.6 million to SCB – both co-plaintiffs seeking damages.

Songklod originally got 193 years and eight months in jail before the court cut it down to 145 years and three months. Also, he was ordered to compensate KMITL for Bt80 million and pay back Bt636.8 million to the bank.

However, the maximum legal imprisonment term that can be served by the main convicts is 50 years.

The nine other convicted defendants face jail terms ranging from four years and six months to 24 years and nine months after reduced penalties.

KMITL’s former vice rector Sappasit Limnorarat, 54, received a jail term of 33 years, which was later reduced to 24 years and nine months.

The court began delivering its 572-page ruling at 8am on Tuesday and completed the verdict reading at 1am yesterday – a new record.

Twelve judges took turns in reading the verdict, with two one-hour breaks for lunch and dinner.

Following his acquittal, Thawil, 64, thanked the court for ensuring him “justice”. Speaking to the media with a smiling face, the former KMITL rector said he had not committed any of the alleged wrongdoings.

He said that he was prepared to fight the case if public prosecutors decided to appeal yesterday’s court ruling.

Regarding a separate case to be heard at the Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases, the ex-rector said that he was not concerned as “I did nothing wrong”.

Family members of eight of the 11 convicted defendants applied for a temporary release.

Thawil and Sappasit were granted temporary release on bail of Bt8 million each, on condition that they do not leave the country without the Court’s permission.

“Tripitaka for the People” is an abbreviated Thai-language interpretation of the original 45-volume Tripitaka. Sucheep, a former monk, spent years reducing the Buddhist teaching from its original 12,000 pages to about 1,200 pages.

“It’s the Kingdom’s easiest version of the Tripitaka to read. Ajarn Sucheep reduces the comprehensive Buddhist teachings from the 45 volumes of a five-book set into one book, while keeping the core of Buddhist teaching. His readable book simplifies the intellectual Buddhism, aiming for [a book that] ordinary people could read,” Assistant Professor Suchao Ploychum, who is on the editorial team, told The Nation.

This country has many Thai-language versions of Tripitaka. However their knowledge is still limited to the scholars. Therefore the abbreviation of a Thai-version of Tripitaka will make the Buddha’s teachings accessible to ordinary people.

Sucheep first published it in 1979 and then reprinted it many times.

The recent version is produced by Culture Ministry, People’s Tripitaka Foundation, Mahamakut Buddhist University and Buddhasa Bhikkhu Foundation in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Sucheep Poonyanupap (1917-2000).

Suchao and his team spent over two years to transform the teachings into a modern version by adding illustrations, diagrams and an appendix.

“The artist-cum-monk Theeraphan Thirabhodi created illustrated drawings in sepia which depict the scenes of the development of Tripitaka, documenting it from the Buddha era to the early Rattakosin period of Thailand,” he said.

“Moreover, the appendix in this book features hundreds of references and the Pali vocabulary,” he added.

The life and work of Sucheep were also featured at the launch at the temple’s 100 years building. Sucheep’s version was named Thailand’s “walkable Tripitaka” by the late prime minister, Sanya Dharmasakti. The former monk wrote many Buddhist texts.

The exhibition of his life and works runs through January 12.

The temple will host a New Year praying festival on New Year’s Eve.

“We have already solved 89.9 per cent of the complaints,” said Sompas Nilapund, an adviser to the Prime Minister’s Office permanent secretary.

During the 2018 fiscal year, October 1, 2017, to September 30.

Sompas said 124,062 complaints were submitted via the Government Hotline 1111. Other channels for complaint submissions are PO Box 1111, www.1111.go.th and PO Box 444 and the PSC mobile application.

“We are addressing the remaining 10 per cent of complaints,” Sompas said.

The cabinet on Tuesday approved a Civil-Partnership Bill, the first major step in Thailand one day becoming the first country in Asia to recognise the right for same-sex partnership.

The current Bill will allow same-sex couples to adopt children, according to Nathporn Chatusripitak, an adviser to the Prime Minister’s Office.

Though adoption is not specifically included in the Bill, it is already covered in the country’s child adoption laws, said Nathporn.

The new Bill also refers to the current Civil and Commercial Code, which governs issues of assets and property and will work in much the same way for same-sex couples. In terms of state welfare, the payments to government officials will also cover same-sex spouses.

The Bill is poised to go before the National Legislative Assembly for a final decision. If passed, it will be announced in the Royal Gazette and take effect 120 days after.

The NLA reports that they currently have a backlog of 50 bills to be deliberated, so the new civil partnership Bill may not be passed in the current session which finishes on February 15, a week before the general election.

Source: thethaiger.com

Defendants Premchai Karnasuta, president of Italian-Thai Development, and his close aide Yong Dodkrau testified earlier on December 19.

Premchai, Yong, and two other close aides of the tycoon, Thanee Thummart and Natee Riemsan, were arrested in February after forest rangers raided their camp site inside Thung Yai Naresuan wildlife sanctuary and discovered weapons and the freshly killed carcasses of protected animals, including a black leopard.

The arrest of Premchai has stirred public interest due to the tycoon’s vast wealth and close connections with influential figures in government. His Italian-Thai Development company has won contracts with several governments and boasts a policy of environmental protection.

Many believe the tycoon will evade prosecution thanks to his personal and business connections with influential people.

Premchai’s lawyer Witoon Yamprai told reporters at the courthouse on Wednesday that the witnesses testifying were Premchai’s former aide Thanee Thummart and Noppadon Pruksawan, former director of the marine national park department.

Noppadon reportedly asked authorities to allow Premchai to enter the wildlife sanctuary for an environmental study trip.

Fuyuhiko Nishikida, 63, and Yoshiki Tsuji, 57, admitted to the charges in the indictment during their first hearing at the Tokyo District Court.

The court adopted the plea bargain agreement signed by prosecutors and Mitsubishi Hitachi Power on June 28 as evidence, with the deal exempting the firm from indictment in exchange for cooperation in investigations and the trial, Kyodo reported.

Conspiring with Satoshi Uchida, 64, who had managed the power plant project then, Nishikida, who was in charge of materials procurement, and Tsuji allegedly paid Bt11 million ($338,000) in February 2015 to the senior official of the Transport Ministry in Thailand to receive favorable treatment in unloading cargo for the local power plant project, according to the indictment.

 Thai authorities had told them that the Japanese company failed to meet necessary conditions for cargo discharge.

During the hearing, Tokyo prosecutors said Nishikida and Tsuji sought Uchida’s advice after the senior official of the ministry’s port and harbor bureau allegedly requested a bribe.

Uchida accepted the request because he thought a delay in the project would incur a loss and cause problems for clients of the Japanese company, according to the prosecutors.

The first hearing for Uchida will be held Jan 11.

The company came to know of the matter in March 2015, alerted by a whistleblower, and later reported it to the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors’ Office following an internal probe, according to Kyodo.

The Yokohama-based firm entered into a plea bargain agreement in June. The plea bargaining system was just introduced in Japan that month.

In July, Thailand’s National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) member Vittaya Arkompituk disclosed that five Thai officials has been implicated in the bribery scandal.

He was speaking in response to news reports that Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems alerted Japanese public prosecutors about a Bt20million bribe made by some of its employees to Thai officials, after receiving a tip-off from a whistle-blower.

“The scandal surrounds the construction of a power plant in Thailand. It happened in 2013,” Vittaya said.

Thailand’s Marine Department confirmed earlier this week that it was now investigating the alleged bribe.