Category: The Bangkok Post

Ongoing clearance operations in Sa Kaeo border areas comply with international law, Thai officials say, while asserting that Cambodian villagers have occupied clearly Thai territory.

Maj Gen Winthai Suvaree, spokesman for the Royal Thai Army, said Cambodian government spokeswoman Pen Bona has deliberately misrepresented the situation.

He said one area under dispute, and which Cambodian villagers have encroached upon, lies outside the territory that Cambodia has previously claimed.

It extends well into Thai territory, he said. This remains the case even though Cambodia refers to a 1:200,000-scale map as the basis for its claims. In particular, Maj Gen Winthai noted that for flat terrain along the border, the Franco-Siamese Treaty stipulates that demarcation must rely on previously established boundary markers.

While differences in interpretation of some markers have resulted in overlapping claims, such areas fall under the purview of the Joint Boundary Commission (JBC), which serves as the mechanism for resolving such disputes.

However, the current issue concerns land that lies clearly within Thai territory, he said.

A television programme which allowed critics to castigate human rights advocates including Senator Angkhana Neelapaichit for their views on the Thai-Cambodian conflict has shed new light on the dire need to regulate some unprofessional media.

The programme Hone Krasae, a popular news talk show on TV Channel 3, plumbed new lows in an episode about the border stand-off which aired mid-week, though it is no stranger to controversy and has had run-ins with broadcast regulators before.

The main guest was influencer and activist Guntouch “Gun Jompalang” Pongpaiboonwet, an ultra-nationalist who last week grabbed media headlines (and drew criticism from human rights activists) after putting loudspeakers near a community near the border and playing recordings of “ghostly sounds” to spook Cambodians.

He argues the Cambodians trespass on Thai land and the recordings, which serve to scare and intimidate, were an extra tool in the army’s toolkit to help persuade Cambodians to move on, especially as the government’s efforts to date have failed to accomplish the feat.

Other guests were Mallika Boonmeetrakul Mahasuk, a former politician, and villagers affected by the conflict, including the family of a boy who was tragically killed in the Cambodian artillery attacks.

Guests vented their anger against Sen Angkhana who raised concerns over Phnom Penh’s complaint with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) following Guntouch’s campaign.

Sen Angkhana and other activists could have provided much-needed balance, though host Kanchai Kamnerdploi said he was unable to reach them.

So for the entire show, Sen Angkhana was portrayed as heartless and unpatriotic. Both Guntouch and Mallika took turns condemning her, claiming she was “hurting the country”.

The programme appeared lopsided and bordered on instigating hate. Critics focused on particular parts of Sen Angkhana’s comments without mentioning the context.

She raised concerns that Guntouch’s “ghost sounds” campaign would be perceived as a human rights violation. She also criticised the army for letting Guntouch use the border area protected by martial law for running his campaign.

Criticism is acceptable as long as it is done in a fair manner. This was not.

At one point, Kanchai announced proudly that the number of viewers tuning in had hit 700,000. Apparently, eyeballs and ratings come first over professionalism these days, even if the outcome is mere sensationalism or even jingoism.

Kanchai unforgivably failed to intervene when his guests started lampooning the senator. For instance, Mallika likened the young boy’s death to Sen Angkhana’s loss of her husband, the late human rights lawyer Somchai Neelapaichit, in a disrespectful way.

The deaths, while sad, cannot be compared. The boy is the victim of war, while the late lawyer fell victim to forced disappearance.

With regard to the boy’s death, Kanchai and other media could do great service to the country if, instead of sensationalising the issue, they looked deeply into the real cause of the armed conflict.

If Guntouch’s and Mallika’s statements are heartless, some of the comments by netizens were even worse.

Several people insulted Islam, Sen Angkhana’s religion, and others made fun of her husband Somchai, who was abducted over a decade ago. Apparently, Guntouch’s ghostly sounds campaign has brought out a latent hatred among many.

A public outcry prompted Kanchai to say “sorry for making some viewers uncomfortable”, but he could have done more to help bring society back from such senselessness. With regard to his role as media personality, there is no place for indifference.

Hone Krasae has been in hot water before. In June last year, Channel 3 removed the talk show to comply with an order by the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC). The broadcast regulator found the content on an earlier episode incited hatred and violated people’s rights.

The latest incident shows once again that a regulator is needed to ensure the media maintains its professionalism and role as a gatekeeper, rather than serving as an echo-chamber that sows hatred and jingoism.

Society should heed pleas by Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow to help foster a good atmosphere conducive to diplomatic talks to help solve the Thai-Cambodian conflict. The media and social influencers should realise that diplomacy is a long-term, more durable solution.

Police arrested about 10 teenagers and seized three motorcycles after they illegally raced on a road in this tourist city early Sunday morning.

Pattaya police broke up the illegal street race on Sukhumvit-Pattaya Road in tambon Nong Prue at around 2am on Sunday following complaints about noise and public danger caused by the activity.

Officers found around 20 motorcycles involved in the race, with participants aged between 14 and 19. When police arrived, most of the racers fled the scene, but about 10 were caught. Their details were recorded, and their parents were summoned and urged to discipline them.

Police said three motorcycles were impounded during the operation.

The number of illegal websites has soared dramatically, with over 400,000 URLs linked to gambling, e-cigarettes and alcohol advertisements detected this year, says the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (DES).

Chomparee Chompurat, DES inspector-general, said the ministry conducted a survey of websites potentially violating the law between Oct 1, 2023 and Sept 30, 2025. “The results showed a dramatic rise in illegal gambling and prohibited goods websites, from 60,000 URLs in 2024 to 400,000 URLs in 2025. Notably, gambling sites alone expanded fourfold, from 62,213 URLs in 2024 to 307,538 URLs in 2025,” she said.

At the same time, websites related to e-cigarettes and alcohol advertising are spreading rapidly through online channels. The ministry warned such platforms are spreading rapidly online, threatening the wellbeing of children and youth. In response, the DES and the Thai Health Promotion Foundation (ThaiHealth) signed a cooperation agreement to strengthen online media surveillance and promote digital literacy nationwide.

The partnership aims to integrate data systems, develop health-focused online monitoring, and cultivate safer digital habits through policy, research and community engagement.

Meanwhile, the government’s intensified crackdown on cybercrime has resulted in the dismantling of several major gambling networks. The joint operation by the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) and the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB) uncovered annual cash flows exceeding 15.2 billion baht across multiple platforms.

Among the largest cases, the “APP.789HENG” network reportedly circulated over 14.4 billion baht annually through 44 bank accounts, including those held by foreign nationals. Police have issued 36 arrest warrants and detained 15 suspects, including Chinese national Ms Siyi Du, alleged to be a key financier.

In another case, the “SEXYBACCARAT4” network handled around 600 million baht per year, leading to 16 warrants and eight arrests.

Other networks — such as HUAYRICH, MUNGME168 and LOT1669 — were linked to online lotteries, proxy bank accounts and money laundering rings, involving minors and mule account operators.

Authorities also seized weapons, computers, and financial records during recent raids nationwide.

Growing up in the Bronx, Paul Frehley had a problem: he wanted to be a guitar god at a time when rock guitarists were everywhere.

When he joined Kiss, after years of playing with bands that were going nowhere, he took the name Ace Frehley. By this time he knew he needed something more than skill to make it big, and he found himself more than willing to adopt a gimmick or two, maybe even three or four, to achieve his aim in life.

In his days as a half-hearted high school student, he had devoted much time and energy to art classes. His rise to stardom began when he put his graphic-design skills to use in creating the Kiss logo, making the last two letters into lightning bolts.

When his fellow band members decided to wear makeup for their stage debut as Kiss in January 1973, he was more than happy to go along with it.

‘It didn’t bother me at all,’ he said in an interview for ‘Kiss: Behind the Mask’, the authorised history of the band by David Leaf and Ken Sharp. ‘I was always into wild things. The first night, I painted my face silver. The second night, I thought, ‘That’s boring. I’ll have to think up something more imaginative.’ I started painting stars on my eyes.’

The sharply painted stars helped transform this workaday club musician into the superhero known as the Spaceman or Space Ace. Frehley, who died Thursday at 74, saw himself as an alien from the planet Jendell in the Klaatu solar system and spoke in jovial interviews of wanting to live far from Earth.

The other musicians in Kiss – Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons and Peter Criss – were equally enthusiastic about working some old-fashioned show-business gimmickry into the act. Stanley even made himself into a de facto fashion designer, stitching the costumes that made them look like characters out of a low-budget horror or sci-fi movie.

At an early show in Manhattan, Frehley and his bandmates performed at top volume in front of a four-foot illuminated sign of the Kiss logo he had designed. They had yet to master the pyrotechnics that would become a staple of their act, and the eyebrows of a kid in the front row were singed, reported Will Hermes in ‘Love Goes to a Building on Fire: Five Years in New York That Changed Music Forever’. But the audience loved them.

Kiss had come along at just the right time. After the rise of singer-songwriters like James Taylor, Joni Mitchell and Paul Simon, who presented their nuanced songs in bare-bones fashion, many music fans were in the mood for something circuslike.

With their comic-book look and fire-breathing tricks, Kiss made rock simple and fun, as it had been in the days of Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincent. The band’s message can be summed up in the refrain of one of its best known songs: ‘I wanna rock ‘n’ roll all night / And party every day.’

Critics weren’t impressed. Lester Bangs, who regularly praised raw rock music in the pages of Creem and Rolling Stone, was aghast to find that his children preferred Kiss to Aerosmith.

But as music writer Sylvie Simmons noted, Kiss had a special appeal. The band was ‘metal bubblegum more than scary stud-rock,’ she wrote in a 1998 reassessment for Mojo, and it produced ‘punch-along anthems with just the right pauses for the fireworks, bombs and solos’.

By joining the carnival, Frehley got everything he had always wanted – which inevitably led to the usual rock-star excesses. In 1981, he was driving a DeLorean at 90 mph when he led squad cars on a chase down the Bronx River Parkway. He was arrested and charged with driving under the influence. (No one was hurt.)

By decade’s end, he had calmed down. ‘I really don’t race cars anymore, because that got me in trouble,’ he said in a 1989 interview with Musician magazine. ‘For the past couple years I’ve kind of slowed down on all that nonsense and I’ve gotten into a health kick.’

While some artists who perform in character come to regret the bargain they have struck to become rich and famous, Frehley took delight in his Spaceman persona and seemed most alive in costume, with its spangled V-front top and Flash Gordon-style cape. For him, the exchange of his old Bronx identity for something more exotic was worth it.

‘I was the loser, the black sheep of the family, until I joined Kiss,’ he said in an interview with the authors of ‘Behind the Mask’. ‘Now, I’m the big winner.’

A majority of Thais say they remain patient but are increasingly worried about the ongoing Thai-Cambodian border conflict, according to a new survey released by the National Institute of Development Administration (Nida Poll).

The poll, titled ‘Are Thais Still Patient?’, was conducted from Oct 14-16 among 1,310 respondents aged 18 and above across all regions, occupations, and income levels. It gauged public satisfaction with the government’s handling of the border dispute and assessed people’s levels of patience and concern amid the rising tensions.

Mixed views on government and institutions

When asked about satisfaction with the roles of various state agencies, the military earned the highest approval, with 53.7% of respondents saying they were ‘very satisfied’ and another 34.2% ‘somewhat satisfied’. Only 12% expressed dissatisfaction.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs received mixed ratings: 34.7% said they were somewhat satisfied, while a combined 48.8% said they were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied.

The government fared the worst, with 38.3% saying they were ‘not very satisfied’ and 26% ‘not satisfied at all’. Only about 35% expressed some level of satisfaction with its response to the conflict.

Public patience wearing thin

Asked about their patience with the Thai-Cambodian situation, 40.5% of respondents said they still had ‘moderate patience’, while 24.4% admitted they had ‘lost patience’. Another 19.7% said their patience was ‘starting to run out’, and 14.7% said they remained ‘highly patient’.

Among residents in border provinces, where tensions are felt most acutely, 38.6% said they were moderately patient, 24.3% said they had lost patience, and 22.4% said their patience was waning.

Key concerns: prolonged conflict and livelihoods

Nearly half of border respondents (46.2%) said their biggest worry was that the border conflict would drag on without resolution. Other major concerns included the livelihoods of local people (44.8%) and the welfare of soldiers, police, and volunteers stationed along the frontier (33.3%).

A quarter (25.7%) feared the possibility of renewed fighting, while 16.7% worried that Thailand might lose territory. About 13% were anxious about prolonged border closures affecting cross-border trade.

Most favour firm economic pressure on Cambodia

When asked about the best way to resolve the conflict, 35.2% said Thailand should apply economic pressure, such as closing border checkpoints and halting trade with Cambodia. Another 34% said any solution must ensure that Thailand does not lose territory or advantage.

About 25% favoured serious diplomatic negotiations, while 22% said the government should give the military full authority to handle the situation. Meanwhile, 21.7% wanted the government to provide full support and compensation to affected communities and businesses.

Only small numbers supported more extreme measures: 2.2% suggested intervening in Cambodian domestic politics to topple the Hun Sen and Hun Manet governments, and 1.4% supported taking the case to the International Court of Justice.

Thailand will propose a draft resolution on combating global scammers as an emergency item at the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) assembly, seeking international cooperation to tackle rising cross-border fraud.

A Thai parliamentary delegation, led by Parliament President Wan Muhamad Noor Matha, has left for the 151st IPU Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, that began on Saturday and runs for a week until next Saturday.

The meeting brings together parliamentarians from 181 member countries under the theme of “Upholding humanitarian norms and supporting humanitarian action in times of crisis”.

In addition to the regular agenda and pre-drafted resolutions, each IPU assembly may also consider an “emergency item” — an urgent and significant international issue that has arisen recently and requires an immediate global attention and response.

If deemed appropriate, such an item could be added to the agenda to allow parliaments to collectively respond.

For this session, the Thai delegation has confirmed its intention to propose a draft resolution on addressing the global scammer crisis, an issue of growing international concern due to the severe and widespread damage to victims and economies across all regions.

The Thai proposal seeks to designate this resolution as an emergency item, Mr Wan said. However, for the item to be accepted onto the agenda, it must receive the support of at least two-thirds of the member parliaments, he said.

Before departing from Suvarnabhumi international airport, Mr Wan said the persistent and increasingly damaging issue of international scam networks has prompted Thailand to table this resolution.

He said transnational scam operations have used Thailand as a transit point to smuggle victims into so-called “scam centres” in neighbouring countries. These nations lack direct international flight connections, forcing traffickers to go through Thai territory, he added.

This, in turn, has tarnished Thailand’s international image and harmed impacted its tourism industry.

The government has since taken decisive action, reducing the use of Thailand as a transit route — particularly via Mae Sot district in Tak province, which borders Myanmar, he said.

However, scam operations continue, shifting their bases to other neighbouring countries, Mr Wan said.

Currently, major scam networks in Southeast Asia face growing global pressure as their activities are exposed, including the United States, the United Kingdom and South Korea, he said.

Meanwhile, Sino-Thai Engineering and Construction Plc has issued a clarification in response to reports that Prince Group, linked to the scammers in some reports, uses a Sino-Thai Tower address.

Thai authorities have launched a probe into a transnational scam network linked to Chen Zhi, the British-Cambodian businessman behind Prince Holding Group (Prince Group).

The investigation follows asset seizures by both the United States and the United Kingdom, after Mr Chen was charged with fraud and running international scams.

Sino-Thai Engineering and Construction Plc said its subsidiary HTR Co manages Sino-Thai Tower and leases its premises lawfully. Prince International Co rents the 7th floor (Oct 2023-Sept 2026) for real estate brokerage. STEC denies any involvement in fraud or corruption.

Re: “Biology lesson”, (PostBag, Oct 16).

Half an apology (or swallowing half a pill) is better than none, so kudos to Ray Ban.

Ray Ban tells us some of the new “greenery” recorded from space, as in the deserts of China and India, is due to the “deliberate planting of large areas of trees” and the “Sahara, Kalahari, Simpson and Gobi deserts, among many others, continue to expand in area, due in part to the global warming caused by man-made carbon dioxide.”

There is no man-made global warming crisis; this is abundantly clear. China’s massive “green wall” project in the Sahel reportedly had up to 80 % tree mortality when irrigation support ended.

Studies using NDVI and remote sensing found the Gobi Desert underwent a contraction between 2000 and 2012, attributed to increased precipitation and CO2-driven greening. Land use management (overgrazing, deforestation, irrigation, soil degradation) and rainfall remain the principal drivers of desertification.

Lastly, Ray Ban advises using Google despite their algorithms which are designed to drive the vaccine and climate change narratives. Anything which does not use the Google search engine is a better choice.

Michael Setter

That’s a big leap

Re: “Living room horror”, (PostBag, Oct 16).

Jason Jellison seems to have had more than his fair share of interactions with people acting badly under the influence of drugs, so it is perhaps not surprising that he is so supportive of ex-PM Thaksin’s “amateur” but lethal war on drugs in 2003.

No doubt he might feel the same way about ex-president Duterte’s record of extrajudicial killings of drug suspects during his 2016-2022 hold on power in the Philippines. One could also reasonably presume that he believes the President of the United States, Donald Trump, whom Mr Jellison affectionately refers to as “my president”, is justified in blowing up suspected drug boats in the Caribbean and killing Venezuelan and Colombian nationals.

Luckily for the two addled youths who broke into his home, Khun Jason’s somewhat intriguing approach of “self defence” and talking to their parents was admirably restrained and resolved the incident.

When, however, he can describe those two Thai teenagers as the embodiment of “mind-bending, narcotic evil”, one has to ask how easily the outcome might have been very different, given his casual acceptance of summary execution for anyone even suspected of drug use, if there had been a firearm to hand.

Ray Ban

Let’s debate it

Re: “Biology lesson” and “Living room horror” (BP, Oct 16).

The letter titled “Living room horror”, reflects critical thinking is in short supply. It is not surprising that Jason A Jellison yet again jumps from a single personal anecdote to the claim that Thaksin Shinawatra’s murderous war on drugs was a good thing.

More interesting is Ray Ban’s thoughtful letter “Biology lesion” reply to Anna Aarts, who has correctly pointed out that higher CO2 levels are good for plant life. The evidence shows this to be true. During the carboniferous era some 350 to 300 million years ago, CO2 levels were several times higher than they are today.

It is also a fact that our planet is warming rapidly and there is no reason to doubt the expert consensus that humankind has been a major contributor.

The response to claims that human activity is driving global warming should indeed be debated. Are carbon taxes the way to go? Should we switch as rapidly as possible to sustainable energy sources? Should we look to geo-engineering on a massive scale?

Or is another response more likely to avert, or at this late stage ameliorate, what is well underway? This is what should be debated, not the basic fact that our species’ acts are today the primary driver of the warming planet and resulting climate change that we are accurately measuring from year to year.

A half-hearted spring-cleaning session at home during the week came to a welcome halt when I unearthed a couple of my father’s wartime RAF books under a pile of disintegrating paperbacks. The Air Ministry books, published more than 80 years ago, always serve as a reminder of when as a kid I made a faux pas of embarrassing proportions.

After the war, in the late 1950s my parents took part in an exchange programme in which German students were placed with British families at my home town of Reading in a bid to heal the cultural wounds. We had this very pleasant young German student called Jurgen from Bielefeld, which had been heavily bombed during the war. As none of our family knew a word of the German language, conversation was a bit on the thin side and his most frequent expression in English was “I’m sorry, I don’t understand”. a bit like me in Thailand.

One evening my mum suggested I show Jurgen my favourite books. So I had a sniff around in my bedroom and frankly there was not much to choose from. In retrospect I should have selected some of the bland football tomes.

Instead, I returned downstairs to proudly present my dad’s RAF wartime books full of photographs of German fighters and bombers being shot down and cities being bombed, with jingoistic captions. My mum was horrified. I was too young to realise I had really put my foot in it, although Jurgen didn’t complain and actually took quite an interest in the wartime photographs.

For my contribution to improving Anglo-German relations, I earned a severe reprimand from my mum. I wasn’t destined for a diplomatic career.

Flower girl

The following year we hosted another German student called Rosvita and I was instructed by mother in no uncertain terms to stay away from any wartime books. She was a lovely girl and even helped out with the housework. I was assigned to take Rosvita out on bicycle rides in the nearby Chiltern Hills which was good fun. We invariably returned with large bundles of wild flowers and by the time Rosvita left, our house was resembling a florist.

The dog rescuer

Considering the canine mugshot for this column ‘s printed edition of the Bangkok Post it’s about time we had a couple of doggy tales.

Verity Cattanach Poole is an English woman who for the past 17 years has been running a dog rescue centre with her Thai husband Thep in Bang Saphan, Prachuap Khiri Khan province. Bang Saphan is about 80km south of Prachuap provincial town.

The Headrock Dogs Rescue has been a successful venture but at the age of 77, Verity is ready to hand over to a younger generation with the required verve and energy to look after the abused and neglected street dogs.

Verity has posted her situation on Facebook and although she has received a positive response, as yet no one has been willing to take on the workload.

Rewarding experience

Verity currently looks after 60 dogs at the centre and another 60 at the local temple. She admits on her website it is not easy work, saying, “This isn’t just a job, it’s a commitment to a life of purpose”. She adds: “It’s hard work with long hours, and it can be heartbreaking at times, but the rewards are immense.”

She says that anyone taking over should have an “unwavering passion for the welfare of dogs”.

Verity can be contacted at Tel: 089-0283-787 and email: headrockdogrescue@gmail.com. There is a video on the centre at headrockdogs.org/our-takeover.

Miracle

It’s amazing what rescue dogs can achieve if they are looked after. Readers may recall the extraordinary tale from a decade ago when a Thai dog that was rescued by the Soi Dog Foundation went on to win an award at the prestigious Crufts show in London.

The dog had been crammed on a truck in the Northeast with hundreds of other strays, destined for the cooking pots of Vietnam. A harrowing photograph of these poor creatures aboard the intercepted truck went around the world.

Among those deeply moved by the photo was a Scottish lady, Amanda Leask, from Inverness. She was particularly struck by one dog that looked in a wretched state. Amanda adopted the dog which became a great companion for her son Kyle, who suffered from cerebral palsy and autism. She named the dog Miracle and the former stray and her son became true soulmates.

In 2015 Miracle won the Friends For Life award at Crufts and the RSPCA Animal Hero Award.

Nipper

I should mention here Nipper, a fox terrier which for many years was the most recognisable dog in the world. Nipper’s story began in 1899 when English artist Francis Barraud borrowed a record machine from the Gramophone Company so he could paint his pet, Nipper, listening to it.

The company was so impressed by the resulting painting entitled His Master’s Voice that they adopted it as their trademark. The company moved to the US and the familiar image of Nipper sitting listening to the old gramophone became recognisable worldwide as the symbol of Radio Corporation of America.

Nipper earned his name for his habit of nipping the legs of visitors he didn’t like. I know a few hounds like that on my soi.

Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt says the underground railway tunnel beneath the collapsed Samsen Road is stable, denying claims the structure is moving.

Speaking on a Facebook livestream on Saturday, he said the claims may stem from miscommunication. The road collapsed near the entrance to Vajira Hospital on Samsen Road on Sept 24.

He said structures near the sinkhole, including the Samsen police station building and road surface nearby, remain stable with little to no movement or surface expansion. The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has obtained a measurement device and is working around the clock. Regarding road surface repairs, Mr Chadchart said workers had levelled at least 9,400 cubic metres (m³) of sand, carried on at least 900 lorries, to reinforce the underground structure.

The Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand’s (MRTA) contractor had done grouting work, applying a mixture of cement and hardener, around the tunnel. Workers will level 3,500 m³ of crushed stone in the next couple of days before placing metal sheets on the road surface to help with the Samsen station building removal.

That work will take seven days. The station will be rebuilt at the same spot. However, plans to reopen Samsen Road are still unclear, as this must be done with work on the electric railway tunnel to ensure road user safety.

On Friday, MRTA said its civil engineering contractor is working on soil quality improvement to strengthen those around the sinkhole. The MRTA said the contractor plans to level crushed stone in the area while working on reopening Vajira Hospital’s entrance.