Category: The Bangkok Post

A man who was lucky enough to get back a phone he had lost the previous day was horrified to discover it now held photos of a skeletal human corpse.

The macabre incident was shared on the Facebook page Kung Nattapon Kff. He had dropped his phone near Soi Chaeng Watthana 14, and someone had found and picked it up.

Fortunately, he was able to arrange to retrieve it the following morning.

He met the person who had the phone, and noticed the individual seemed mentally unstable. Upon returning home and checking through it, he discovered the phone now contained photographs of skeletal human remains lying on a blanket bed with a pillow. (continues below)

The phone’s owner concluded his post by urging police or rescue workers to investigate abandoned buildings in the Chaeng Watthana area, hoping the body could be properly buried or cremated.

Tropical depression Bualoi was downgraded to an active low-pressure cell over Luang Namtha province of Laos at 1am Tuesday but will still cause heavy rain in some provinces of Thailand on Tuesday, according to the Meteorological Department.

Sugunyanee Yavinchan, director-general of the department, said heavy rain was likely as Bualoi strengthened the southwestern monsoon and the monsoon trough over upper Myanmar and the upper North of Thailand.

She advised small boats in the upper Andaman Sea to be kept ashore on Tuesday.

Agriculture Minister Thamanat Prompow on Tuesday rejected allegations made during a heated parliamentary debate that he was unqualified to serve as a cabinet minister.

Anusorn Iamsa-ard, a Pheu Thai Party list-MP, made the allegations.

Mr Anusorn referred to multiple controversies surrounding Thamanat, particularly the infamous ‘flour case’ from 1993. At that time, Thamanat had claimed that a substance weighing 3.2kg seized by Australian authorities – allegedly heroin – was merely ‘flour’.

An Australian court in March 1994 sentenced Thamanat to six years in prison for heroin trafficking. He was released after four years and deported to Thailand.

Thamanat, also a deputy prime minister, said that the Constitutional Court had already ruled unanimously on such matters during his previous tenure as deputy agriculture minister in the Prayut Chan-o-cha government. The court found that he did not violate any disqualifying criteria as set out in Sections 160 (6) and (7) of the constitution.

In short, the court found that only a criminal conviction in Thailand can disqualify a person from serving as an MP or minister.

As well, Thamanat said, the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) cleared him of a complaint of gross ethical misconduct. He said all the relevant documentation had been thoroughly reviewed through proper legal channels.

‘I would like to remind the debating MP that I have been through both good times and difficult times in life. I have always accepted scrutiny and have passed every stage of the judicial process,’ he said.

‘Please stop dredging up old matters to make them political issues again. If there are still doubts, we can discuss them privately.

‘Let me make this clear. Anyone who makes defamatory remarks against me – even under parliamentary privilege, and if those remarks cause reputational damage outside parliament – they will face consequences. Our next meeting place will be in the Phayao [police station].’

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul on Monday dismissed reports which claimed that Thai soldiers stationed in Phu Makua amid the ongoing border tension with Cambodia have had to survive on meagre rations.

Responding to reports circulating online which claimed the soldiers stationed in the flashpoint area have had to make do with rations consisting of instant noodles, canned fish and three small bottles of drinking water per day, he said the government “supplies all necessary resources to maintain the morale of its troops”.

The Second Army Region also denied the reports, saying all personnel at Phu Makua are well-provisioned with food, drinking water, and other essentials.

The unit acknowledged the logistical challenges posed by recent heavy rainfall but assured that supply lines remain uninterrupted.

With regards to residents who have had to be evacuated from border areas, the prime minister said the government will ensure all relief centres are able to provide all evacuees with proper food, bedding, clothing, and internet access, provided by the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, to help them cope with stress.

When asked about the growing tension along the Thai-Cambodian border on Monday, Mr Anutin said the government is monitoring the situation in all border provinces.

The prime minister also said the military has been authorised to do whatever it needs to do to protect the country’s sovereignty amid the ongoing border dispute with Cambodia.

He said the government is also working to bolster security on the frontier.

Thailand’s former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has submitted a petition for a royal pardon for his one-year jail sentence, his lawyer said on Monday.

He was jailed earlier this month after the Supreme Court ruled that he did not serve his initial prison sentence after spending six months in a VIP room of a hospital following his return from 15 years of self-exile in August 2023.

Thaksin, 76, was initially sentenced to eight years in jail for conflicts of interest and abuse of power while he was prime minister from 2001 to 2006. His sentence was later commuted to one year by the king.

Thaksin’s request for royal pardon, a process available to all prisoners who have completed their legal cases, could lead to the reduction of his current prison time.

“The petition was submitted,” Winyat Chartmontree told reporters, adding, “This is a right of every inmate.” The former PM has been in Thai politics for around thirty years, winning nearly every election since 2001.

Deputy national police chief, Pol Gen Kornchai Klaiklueng, said the Royal Thai Police will not demolish the new Samsen Police Station, which now lies precariously on the edge of a massive sinkhole which opened up in Dusit district last week.

Pol Gen Kornchai said a team of engineers has inspected the building and determined that demolition won’t be necessary if the damaged foundation pillars are adequately reinforced.

Although the team concluded that the building is in no immediate danger of collapsing, it will remain closed to ensure the safety of both officers and members of the public.

“I will be the first one to enter the building once it is reopened,” assured Pol Gen Kornchai.

He promised the RTP will not use public funds to rebuild the building if authorities decide to demolish the station in the future, out of safety concerns..

He said that RTP has offered the station’s officers temporary residence in three locations: Khlong San, Vibhavadi, and Dusit. Pol Gen Kornchai said the RTP is aware of concerns about the commute, saying the station’s chief and Metropolitan Police Region 1 have been ordered to address the problem.