Thailand
Phuket MP joins call for opposition to Nitirat group

– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community
PHUKET: Opposition mounted yesterday to the Nitirat group of law lecturers and their controversial proposals regarding the monarchy.
At a reunion party, a group of Thammasat University law graduates called for the removal of five of the Thammasat university law lecturers who are members of Nitirat.
Representatives of the Law School class of 1958, including Suthep Niran and Sichart Sahatchote, led the call. They issued a statement calling for an end to Nitirat’s use of the university as a venue for its activities, and alleged that the group had defamed the Royal institution.
They said that since the lecturers were government officials but did not support Thai democracy with the monarchy as its head, they should be fired.
Former premier Chuan Leekpai, chief adviser to the opposition Democrat Party and a member of the class, said Nitirat was unlikely to succeed in amending the law.
In Phuket, another leading Democrat MP, Sathit Wongnongtoey, was busy mobilising party members to oppose the Nitirat group. He said Thais were facing “a new security threat” – the distortion of information about the monarchy institution to make it look bad. More dissemination of correct information was needed, Sathit said.
Earlier yesterday, Democrat MP for Bangkok Jittapat Piromphakdee led a group of royalists to stage a demonstration against Nitirat’s move to amend the lese majeste law at the Royal Plaza.
The demonstration, at Bangkok’s Royal Plaza, was largely organised through social networking sites and the demonstrators swore allegiance to the monarchy. While the ritual was taking place, heavy rain poured down, leading some to speculate that “heaven is weeping”, and some people shouted, “Long Live the King!”
Jittapat said she was not sure what the next move would be, but she read out a statement to the crowd saying the monarchy institution must be kept in a position of reverence. She said that many people have received distorted information about the monarchy, leading to the current situation.
The MP urged youngsters to join networks that offered correct information about the monarchy, adding that it was the duty of all Thais to guard against the use of social networks to spread distorted details about the monarchy.
Meanwhile, Democrat MP and shadow PM’s Office minister Thepthai Senapong said the ruling Pheu Thai Party had made it clear at certain levels that they would not make a move to amend the lese majeste law. Whether people believed that or not was another matter, however, he said.
Thepthai said the lack of trust was related to the fact that many figures associated with the party, from former premier Thaksin Shinawatra down, had been embroiled in actions or words deemed as disloyal to the throne. He claimed that the convicted former premier often attacked the monarchy in interviews with foreign media.
Thepthai said the actions and movements of people like former Thai Rak Thai MP Jakrapob Penkair, key red-shirt member Ji Ungpakorn and Pheu Thai party-list MP Sunai Julpongsathorn made it less likely that people would trust Pheu Thai when it comes to the issue of the monarchy, no matter how many statements they made.
He warned that Nitirat also wanted to amend Article 8 of the Constitution, and other parts of it, and that the Democrat Party would oppose any such move. Thepthai denied that the party was trying to claim a monopoly on love for the institution of the monarchy.
Pheu Thai’s deputy spokesperson hit back yesterday, saying the Democrats had become obsessed with Thaksin and had made unfounded allegations. The spokesperson urged the party to be more “constructive”.
— The Nation
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Crime
Gunman kills mayoral candidate, injures 4 other municipal candidates at funeral

A gunman shot and killed a woman running for mayor and wounded 4 others at a funeral in Ratchaburi, a province west of Bangkok near the Myanmar border. Police say they suspect the shooting was politically motivated. Out of the 4 people injured, 3 were running in the March 28 municipal election while another was the kamnan, a government official of a tambon, which is a sub district.
The gunman is still at large, but police say they suspect the shooter is Wanchart Niamraksa, a member of the Ratchaburi provincial administration organisation.
The gunman opened fire just as the kamnan of tambon Don Sai, Yingpan Kanket, was lighting candles and incense sticks under a Buddha image to start the ceremony, witnesses say. Shots were fired from behind the main Buddha image at the temple’s open prayer hall, witnesses say.
Bullets hit 5 people, including Yingpan who is in critical condition. Varaporn Niamraksa, who was running for mayor of the municipality, was shot and died at the hospital. Nakhon Wanpen, Somthawil Srirat and Monthien Jaitham, who are all running for the municipal council of tambon Don Sai, were shot.
Police found 2 spent .22 cartridges and a 11mm spent shell at the scene. The suspect faces charges of murder, attempted murder, carrying firearms and ammunition without permission and carrying them in public without a proper reason.
SOURCES: Nation Thailand | Bangkok Post
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Phuket
Thailand News Today | Covid passport talks, Thai Airways heads to court | March 2

In today’s Thailand News Today…. The island of Phuket has a firm plan to get its residents vaccinated leading up to an October opening for tourists, the Thai PM backs up his police over last Sunday’s protest violence and Thai Airway’s employee union criticises the changes to employee contracts.
But the plan must be approved by the national government by April, if the province wants to open tourism by October 1. Phuket has a resident population of around 300- 400,000 people.
Before you go rushing off to book your plane tickets we’d stress that this is another in a long list of proposals that have not come to fruition and we’d urge patience until the Government approves the plans.
Meanwhile the island has taken delivery of 4,000 doses of the Chinese Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine. Vaccinations started yesterday, with priority given to 1,500 healthcare workers and 500 “at-risk” officials exposed to Covid-19 patients.
On a broader note… Thailand’s Tourism Minister says he has asked the Public Health Ministry to approve a vaccine passport scheme aimed at reviving Thailand’s devastated tourism sector. According to the Minister, the government is looking to the World Health Organisation to issue a statement on vaccine passports before it makes a final decision on the matter.
The Thai PM, Prayut Chan-o-cha has defended police action against protesters taking part in Sunday’s anti-government rally in Bangkok. Officers from the Metropolitan Police Bureau used tear gas, a water cannon and rubber bullets in an effort to drive protesters back from the PM’s residence. The PM insists the actions were in line with international standards. He says that police did not violate the protesters’ rights.
Thai researchers are claiming that horseshoe bats are not responsible for transmitting the Covid virus to humans. A researcher with the Thai Red Cross Emerging Infectious Diseases-Health Science Centre, says that even though the bats have tested positive for a coronavirus, it is not the strain that is transmissible to humans, and it’s certainly not the virus that causes Covid-19.
As Thai Airways tries to sell new contracts and conditions to its remaining workforce, the labour union of the national carrier is challenging changes to the employment contracts, where Thai Airways employees are being asked to agree to changes as part of the bigger financial rehabilitation program.
But a union representative says the new contracts are unfair because it includes fewer leave days and shorter holidays. The union has filed a complaint with the Department of Labour Protection and Welfare.
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Coronavirus (Covid-19)
Thai army medic accused of injecting troops with fake Covid-19 vaccine during UN mission

A medic for the Royal Thai Army was dismissed and his medical license revoked after injecting troops with fake Covid-19 vaccines during a United Nations peacekeeping mission in South Sudan. The “vaccine” was actually just water. The medic, who is also a lieutenant, apparently injected 273 Thai troops with the water shot and charged 607 baht, or around $20 USD, per injection.
A soldier noticed the bottles the medic was using for the injections were unlabelled. A superior then launched an internal investigation and found that the bottles were just filled with water. Under the UN’s orders, the medic was dismissed and sent back to Thailand. His medical license was also revoked.
Thai media first reported the news, saying that a Thai army doctor at a South Sudan field hospital was suspended from duty due to an investigation into alleged fraud. The medic reportedly worked at the hospital from December 2019 to December 2020.
Following the news report, Thai Supreme Commander General Chalermphol Srisawat confirmed that a medic had been injecting troops with water and claiming it was a Covid-19 vaccine.
SOURCES: Thai PBS | Nation Thailand
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