BREAKING NEWS

[thailandgr]

Thai govt urges Bangkok public to stay indoors overnight

BANGKOK: -- Thailand's government told people in Bangkok to stay indoors from 10 p.m. on Sunday night until 5 a.m. after a day of violence in which protesters seeking to topple Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra launched attacks on state agencies.

"After 10 p.m. until 5 a.m., if it is not neccessary, we ask people to not leave their homes for their safety so they will not become victims of provocateurs," Pracha Promnok, a deputy prime minister, said in a televised address.

He did not specify if this only applied to certain areas.

Four people died and scores were wounded in the violence in the capital over the weekend.

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US Embassy in Bangkok advises citizens to stock a two week supply of cash, food and medicine


Security Message for U.S. Citizens: Demonstrations in Thailand
 
January 10, 2014

This is to advise and update U.S. citizens residing in or traveling to Thailand that political activists intend to hold simultaneous mass rallies at key intersections and other locations in Bangkok beginning on Monday, January 13th.

The U.S. Embassy in Bangkok and U.S. Consulate General in Chiang Mai will remain open for consular services.

The announced January 13 mass rally sites are at major intersections throughout Bangkok, including Asok-Sukhumvit, Pathumwan, Lumpini, Victory Monument, Ratchaprasong, Lat Prao, and Silom and at the Chaeng Watthana government complex.

Protests may occur in other areas with little prior notice. Subsequent events are unpredictable, although protest leaders have declared their plan to continue with rallies after January 13.

Protests are expected to occur elsewhere in Thailand, including near Chiang Mai University scheduled for Sunday afternoon, January 12.

While protests have been generally peaceful over the last two months, some have resulted in injury and death.

Even demonstrations that are meant to be peaceful can turn confrontational, and can escalate into violence without warning.

You should avoid areas of demonstrations, and exercise caution if in the vicinity of any large gatherings or protests.

Be alert and aware of your surroundings and pay attention to local news and media reports.

These demonstrations can result in significant traffic disruptions and delays.

When they occur, and especially on January 13, you should allow extra time when travelling throughout the city or to airports. Consider public transportation alternatives.

We advise you to plan ahead. It is prudent to ensure you have a week’s supply of cash, keep your mobile communications devices charged, and stock a two week supply of essential items such as food, water, and medicine.

We strongly recommend that U.S. citizens traveling to or residing in Thailand enroll in the Department of State’s Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) at www.Travel.State.Gov. 

STEP enrollment gives you the latest security updates, and makes it easier for the U.S. embassy or nearest U.S. consulate to contact you in an emergency. 

If you don’t have Internet access, enroll directly with the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate.

Regularly monitor the State Department's website, where you can find current Travel Warnings, Travel Alerts, and the Worldwide Caution.

Read the Country Specific Information for Thailand.  For additional information, refer to “A Safe Trip Abroad” on the State Department’s website.

Contact the U.S. embassy or consulate for up-to-date information on travel restrictions. 

You can also call 1-888-407-4747 toll-free in the United States and Canada or 1-202-501-4444 from other countries.  These numbers are available from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays).  Follow us onTwitter and Facebook, and download our free Smart Traveler iPhone Appto have travel information at your fingertips.

The American Citizen Services Unit of the U.S. Embassy (http://bangkok.usembassy.gov/service.html) is located at 95 Wireless Road in Bangkok, and can be reached by calling 66-2-205-4049, or by e-mailing acsbkk@state.gov. The Embassy’s after-hours emergency telephone number is 66-2-205-4000.

The U.S. Consulate General in Chiang Mai (http://chiangmai.usconsulate.gov/service.html) is located at 387 Wichayanond Road in Chiang Mai. The American Citizen Services Unit of the Consulate General can be reached by calling 66-53-107-777 and by e-mail at acschn@state.gov. The after-hours emergency telephone number is 66-81-881-1878.



Source: http://bangkok.usemb...ov/service.html

[halfway inn]

A war room has been set up......

Minister Charupong fears Bangkok Shutdown may lead to a coup

BANGKOK: -- Caretaker Interior Minister Charupong Ruangsuwan said Sunday that he was very concerned with the protesters’ plan to shut down Bangkok on Monday fearing that the situation may lead to a coup.

A war room has been set up to closely follow the developments of the situation, he said but declined to elaborate the plan.

Regarding the Election Commission’s recent proposal to caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra that the February 2 election should be put off for a certain period of time, he said that the cabinet was ready to consider the proposal providing that it is reasonable and has legal basis.

“The EC must be able to explain which law that can be used to justify the postponement and how important it is that the election must be put off because the February 2 election is yet to take place and there is no Act of God incident which will require the election to be postponed,” he added.

Mr Charupong further noted that there is no guarantee that putting off the election would help ease the conflict but would set a bad precedent for future elections to be postponed.

The interior minister said he didn’t want to view the EC in a negative light for making such a proposal but had sympathy for it for bearing a heavy burden at a difficult time.

While there is no response yet from the government to the EC’s proposal, Mr Charupong believes that the EC will continue to do its job and seek cooperation from all parties concerned to ensure that the election can be held on schedule.


Thai PBS 2014-01-12

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LATEST UPDATES

BANGKOK (20 January 2014)

Thai government considers state of emergency after weekend violence

Thai authorities are "very seriously" considering a state of emergency after a weekend of violence in the capital
where protesters have been trying for more than two months to bring down the government, the security chief said on Monday.

Though the size of the demonstrations has declined, protesters have managed to shut down some government offices, forcing Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to shift her workplace and snarl Bangkok's traffic.

"We're prepared to use the emergency decree...

Everyone involved including the police, the military and the government is considering this option very seriously but has not yet come to an agreement," National Security Council chief Paradorn Pattantabutr told Reuters after a meeting with Yingluck.

"The protesters have said they will close various government offices. So far their closures have been symbolic, they go to government offices and then they leave.


REUTERS

[halfway inn]

THAILAND DECLARED STATE of EMERGENCY

Thailand imposes emergency rule

BANGKOK, January 21, 2014 (AFP) - Thailand on Tuesday declared a 60-day state of emergency in Bangkok and surrounding areas to tackle mass street protests aimed at overthrowing the government.

The move follows weeks of rallies that have paralyzed parts of the capital and sparked several bouts of deadly violence, including grenade attacks and shootings.

"The cabinet decided to invoke the emergency decree to take care of the situation and to enforce the law," said Deputy Prime Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul, noting that protesters had prevented officials from going to work.

The decree will come into force from Wednesday.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra is under intense pressure from demonstrators, backed by the royalist establishment, to step down after more than two months of street protests aimed at ousting her government and installing an unelected "people's council".

It was not immediately clear how the government would implement the decree, which enables authorities to ban public gatherings of more than five people and detain suspects for 30 days without charge.

Labour Minister Chalerm Yubamrung, who will oversee its implementation, said Thailand would abide by international standards.

"We will not use force. We have no policy to disperse them (the protesters) and we haven't announced a curfew yet," he said.

National Security Council chief Paradorn Pattanatabut said there were already enough police and soldiers deployed to deal with the demonstrations.

He said the decree could be used to ban protest marches.
 
Yingluck has called an election for February 2 but the main opposition party is boycotting the vote.

The protesters are trying to disrupt the polls and have prevented candidates from registering in some southern constituencies.

The demonstrators have staged a self-styled "shutdown" of Bangkok since January 13, erecting roadblocks and rally stages at several main intersections, although their number has steadily fallen since the middle of last week.

Dozens of people were wounded and one killed in grenade attacks by unknown assailants on opposition rallies on Friday and Sunday.

The incidents, which each side has blamed on the other, heightened fears of growing unrest before next month's election.

The kingdom has been periodically rocked by political bloodshed since Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Yingluck's older brother, was overthrown by royalist generals in a coup seven years ago.

The latest protests were triggered by a failed amnesty bill that could have allowed Thaksin to return without going to jail for a past corruption conviction.

The demonstrators accuse the billionaire telecoms tycoon-turned-politician of controlling his sister's government from his base in Dubai.

Thaksin has strong electoral support in northern Thailand, but he is reviled by many southerners, Bangkok's middle class and members of the royalist establishment.

The emergency decree was imposed in Bangkok in 2010 when two months of mass rallies by the pro-Thaksin Red Shirts sparked violence that left more than 90 people dead and nearly 1,900 injured, ending in a bloody army crackdown.

The military, traditionally a staunch supporter of the anti-Thaksin establishment, has shown signs of reluctance to play a significant role in handling the current protests, saying it wants to remain neutral.

But the army chief has also refused to rule out another coup.

[halfway inn]

Air Algerie plane disappears from radar shortly after takeoff

Contact lost with Air Algerie plane carrying 116 people from Burkina Faso

ALGIERS (Reuters) - Authorities have lost contact with an Air Algerie flight en route from Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso to Algiers with 110 passengers on board, Algeria's APS state news agency and a Spanish airline company said on Thursday.

APS said authorities lost contact with flight AH 5017 an hour after it took off from Burkina Faso.

Spanish private airline company Swiftair confirmed it had no contact with its MD-83 aircraft operated by Air Algerie, which it said was carrying 110 passengers and six crew.

An Algieran official had earlier said it was an Airbus A320.

The company said in a notice posted on its website that the aircraft took off from Burkina Faso at 0117 local time and was supposed to land in Algiers at 0510 local time but never reached its destination.

24 July 2014 (Reporting by Patrick Markey and Hamid Ould Ahmed; Editing by Alison Williams)

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SAD NEWS

Wednesday November 26, 2014

KANCHANABURI:

A Greek diplomat was killed when she tried to jump onto a moving No 257 train from Thonburi to Nam Tok railway station in Saiyok district of Kanchanaburi province this afternoon.

She was identified as Mrs Aristea Liapi, an attaché attached to the Greece Embassy in Bangkok.

She missed the step of the train and rolled into the wheels of the moving train.


R.I.P. Mrs Aristea Liapi

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IMMIGRATION CHECKPOINTS ON ALERT NATIONWIDE

All immigration checkpoints placed on alert to prevent escape attempt by abbot murder suspects



WEDNESDAY 25-03-2015

All immigration checkpoints across the country were ordered to watch out for two wanted suspects in connection with the murder of a temple abbot in Udon Thani province on May 1 after the police feared they might flee the country.

Royal Thai Police assistant commissioner Pol Lt Gen Panya Mamen said he ordered all immigration checkpoints on alert after the police searched the Aek Udon Hospital for more evidence early this morning when a suspect, Mr Bancherd Chatphaitoon, executive chairman of the hospital, was implicated as a mastermind of the murder of Phra Bandhit Subandhitto.

The search by a 100-strong combined force of commando police from the Crime Suppression Division (CSD), Fourth Region Provincial Police, and soldiers came after CSD police were able to capture the gunman identified as Panja Chalisen, 49, in Kalasin province.

The man was an employee of the Vocational Education Commission Kalasin office.

His confession led the police to hunt for a police sergeant who drove for the gunman.

Panja said he was paid 50,000 baht by the police sergeant Charnchai Soisangwarn to shoot the abbot.

Pol Lt Gen Panya said the executive chairman’s office room at the hospital was locked, and he was not at the hospital.

Search at his residence also couldn’t locate him while his wife told police her husband is on a business trip in the provinces, the assistant commissioner said.

He said another team of commando police from the CSD and Fourth Region Provincial Police and soldiers also searched the house of Sgt Charnchai Soisangwarn to search for evidence linked to the murder.

He was not in but only his 76-year-old father.

A .22 rifle mounted with telescope, several rounds of .22, .357 rounds of ammunition were seized.

But the father told police that all belonged to his son and didn’t know when he left them at the house.

The police sergeant was said to be the person who drove the gunman to shoot the abbot. He then drove the car to a sawmill and hide it there until the police raided the mill and seized the car.

The mill owner told police he knew the officer but did not know the car left at his mill was used in the shooting.

The assistant commissioner said the police sergeant might have fled to Laos.

However he ordered all immigration checkpoints to watch out for Mr Bancherd and Sgt Charnchai as they might use the channel to escape.

The success in divulging the controversial murder case came after the Royal Thai Police commissioner Pol Gen Somyot Phumphanmaung ordered immediate transfer of two senior police officers of Udon Thai police after investigation into the murder of the abbot of Wat Pator Sisied temple, Phra Bandhit Subandhitto, handled by one of the officers, produced no progress.

Besides, the two officers also have close association with the owner of the private hospital, Aek Udon, suspected to be involved in the murder of the abbot.

The hospital executive chairman has been questioned by local police but he denied any connection.

The national police chief later assigned the Crime Suppression Division (CSD) police to take over the investigation, and the new probe team has made significant progress in the investigation.

[Oytopikos]

The Royal Thai Embassy in the Turkish capital on Thursday warned Thai tourists to be extra cautious and avoid rally sites while travelling in Turkey in the wake of the attack on the Thai consulate in Istanbul...

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/618560/thai-tourists-in-turkey-warned-to-be-cautious?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=DTN+Thailand:.

[Oytopikos]

All sales of alcohol near schools nationwide, without exemption or exception, were banned yesterday under a vaguely worded order from the military government.

Although Prime Minister Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha signed a specific order banning alcohol sales within 300 meters on Monday, a new law was unexpectedly published yesterday stating that “no person shall sell alcoholic beverages near the boundary lines of educational institutions or dormitories near educational institutions."

The law includes no language defining how near is “near.” The law includes all schools, not just high schools and universities. The law includes no exceptions or exemptions. The law went into immediate effect. Yesterday.

Thanakorn Kuptajit, president of the Thai Alcoholic Beverage Business Association told Coconuts today it came out of nowhere.

"I was shocked when I found out about this law yesterday," Thanakorn said. "The actual law itself is unable to be interpreted. For example, what distance is considered ‘near?’"

Some alcohol sellers have already warned by officials, he added.

That said it appeared to have a total effect of nothing on Bangkok’s nightlife last night, where it was business as usual in areas which would have been affected by the 300-meter ban such as Siam Paragon, CentralWorld, EmQuartier, Soi Cowboy and many other locations in the central business district. Not to mention nationwide.

As we wrote yesterday, the order Prayuth signed Monday would have, as written, created pockets of prohibition throughout Bangkok by banning all alcohol sales except for registered hotels and the few government-designated entertainment zones such as Patpong, Royal City Avenue-upper Thonglor and the nightclub-adult entertainment stretch of Ratchadapisek Road. It was also to go into effect 30 days after being formally published.

The new law was enacted under the military government’s special powers under Section 44 of the interim charter, along with strict punishment for clubs admitting patrons under 20, street racing and noisy nightclubs.

Oh, and those pockets of prohibition may grown into wider zones of prohibition.

Gen. Paiboon Koomchaya, who serves as Justice Minister, said he’d like to see it increased to 500 meters from schools.

The reason given for the ban is to curtail underage drinking and the scourge of student violence. The groups behind it are a coalition of anti-alcohol crusaders and prohibitionists.

The Thai Alcoholic Beverage Business Association has argued simply enforcing the age limit of 20 for sales would be a better way to address the issue than the outsized impact the law would have, were it to be evenly enforced.

Meanwhile many bar and restaurant owners say they haven’t even heard of the ban.

http://bangkok.coconuts.co/2015/07/24/surprise-new-booze-ban-now-effect

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The Erawan Shrine bomb suspect has been arrested in Sa Kaew and has been brought to Bangkok.

[thailandgr]

Bangkok bombing suspects arrested abroad

A number of suspects in the Erawan shrine and Sathon pier bombings on Aug 17 and 18 have been arrested abroad and authorities are seeking their extradition, deputy national police chief Srivara Rangsibrahmanakul said on Thursday.

Pol Gen Srivara said the arrested suspects, Thai and foreign, were being detained in a foreign country. He would not name it.

The Office of the Attorney-General and the Foreign Affairs Ministry were coordinating with authorities of the country concerned and arranging for the suspects' extradition to face legal proceedings in Thailand.

Details of the suspects could not be disclosed as the case concerns national security and international relations, Pol Gen Srivara said.

Post Today and other Thai media later reported, without naming sources, that the arrested suspects were Thai woman Wanna Suansan, alias Maisaloh, and her Turkish husband Emrah Davutoglu.

Police investigators earlier learned Ms Wanna had rented a room at Maimuna Garden Home apartments  in Min Buri where bomb-making materials were discovered.

Her husband, Emrah Davutoglu, was found to have received money transferred from another key suspect, Abdul Tawab, a 40-year-old Pakistani national. The money was linked to funding for the bombing, investigators say.

A previous police probe found Ms Wanna, her husband and their infant left Thailand for Turkey, via Phuket, on July 1.

Following the Erawan bomb blast on Aug 17 that killed 20 people and injured 130 others and the subsequent blast at Sathon pier on Aug 18, police issued warrants for the arrest of at least 10 suspects, both Thai and foreign nationals.

Only two of them were arrested, both in Thailand. Adem Karadag, alias Bilal Mohammad, and Yusufu Mieraili were arraigned in the Bangkok Military Court on Nov 24.   

They face 10 charges including premeditated murder, causing death and severe injuries by explosive devices, causing damage to property, possession of explosives without permission, carrying bombs into public places, colluding in carrying out bomb attacks, possession of war materials without permission, and entering the country illegally.

The court set the starting date of their trial for Feb 16, 2016.

[thailandgr]

BANGKOK: More information has come to light regarding an apparent ISIS plot to target Russian and other western tourists in Thailand.

The plot, which was revealed in a leaked memo obtained by Khaosod English, was marked as “Secret” and allegedly issued by the intelligence unit of the Royal Thai Police Special Branch.

The memo claims to cite information obtained by the Russia’s Federal Security Service or FSB.

A source from Thailand’s Tourist Police who spoke to Thaivisa.com on the condition of anonymity revealed how senior officers were told of possible plots to target foreign tourists in Thailand.

The source told Thaivisa that a briefing was held early on Thursday, prior to the leaking of a memo to the press.

During the briefing, officers were told of plots to target foreign tourists in Bangkok’s Khao San Road, as well as on Walking Street in Pattaya.

Senior officers were told how security will be increased at major locations across the country and that Immigration will be stepping up the screening of foreigners at all border checkpoints, something which has been officially announced earlier this afternoon.

On Friday police were urging members of the public to remain calm over the alleged terrorist threat.

Metropolitan police commissioner Pol Lt Gen Sanit Mahatavorn said on Friday it was still unclear if the leaked memo was genuine and said that a forged document of this kind could have been made public in order to try and incite public disorder and harm the Thai economy.

[Oytopikos]

PUBLIC HEALTH ALERT: Dozens of passengers on an Oman-Bangkok flight were directly exposed to the deadly #MERS virus and have been classified as 'high risk', and they could be crossing your path... Until they're all tracked down and quarantined, keep your eyes out for symptoms, boost your immune system, and don't hesitate to go to hospital if you should get an unusual fever or cough...