BANGKOK: Hundreds of aspiring politicians, including a masked costumed hero, registered on Monday for Thailand’s first election since the 2014 coup, promising a colorful cast of candidates stumping for political parties both old and new.
Since the coup, the military has rewritten the constitution, clamped down on dissent and appointed allies across the bureaucracy.
But recent days have seen echoes of Thailand’s formerly rambunctious politics, with outdoor political announcements, campaign posters and loudspeakers on vans touting political slogans as the country gears up for the much-anticipated election after more than four years of junta rule.
Monday’s registration was marked by a festive atmosphere, with supporters of dozens of groups waving neon banners and party flags as they entered a stadium in central Bangkok.
While familiar faces abound, such as leaders from political powerhouse Pheu Thai and the army-aligned Phalang Pracharat, there were also quirky entrants, including a member of an obscure new party Phalang Prachatipatai — or “Power of Democracy” — who dressed as American pop culture icon the “Lone Ranger.”
Another hopeful for the Action Coalition for Thailand party carried posters of himself dressed as Superman.
But the levity displayed by some belied an underlying resolve to restore a democratically elected government after former premier Yingluck Shinawatra was ousted by the military.
“We stand firm with our principle to stop the continuing power of the (military government),” said Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, head of upstart party Future Forward which advocates for the military to be divorced from politics.
“On March 24, the Thai people must raise their voice to stop the military regime.”
Pheu Thai, Thailand’s biggest political party, also wants a “free and fair (election) without any interference from the government,” said party stalwart Sudarat Keyuraphan.
In the last election, the party backed ousted premier Yingluck Shinawatra, and it remains to be seen if it will be able to capitalize on previous electoral successes without the star power of Yingluck and her older brother Thaksin, who was himself pushed out in a military takeover in 2006.
Both live in self-exile to avoid what they say are politically motivated court charges.
But their names will still be on the ballot: Thaksin-aligned Pheu Chart Party currently has over a dozen registered candidates who legally changed their first names to mimic the siblings.
“Right now, there are 15 members who changed their names ... 10 men who changed to Thaksin and five women to Yingluck,” party spokeswoman Ketpreeya Kaewsanmuang said, adding the party was surprised to hear of the name changes.
“It’s their personal choice ... you can call it a gimmick as well.”
The move is likely to attract votes from hardcore Thaksin supporters in certain parts of the country, where the billionaire is still revered for the populist policies he enacted as premier, such as universal health care and debt relief for farmers.
Less than ten weeks from the election, it remains unclear if junta leader Prayut Chan-O-Cha will stand as a candidate for prime minister.
Even if the junta’s rivals are successful in the polls, any new civilian government is expected to be hamstrung by the military-scripted constitution.
Meanwhile, the pro-army Phalang Pracharat on Monday branded itself as “the best choice for Thais who want to move past conflicts,” said leader Uttama Savanayana, who recently resigned as industry minister.
Phalang Pracharat last week formally invited junta leader Prayut to stand as its candidate for prime minister.
The gruff general must formally submit his interest to the Election Commission by Friday.
‘Lone Ranger,’ ‘Superman’ register for Thailand’s first election since 2014 coup
‘Lone Ranger,’ ‘Superman’ register for Thailand’s first election since 2014 coup
- Since the coup, the military has rewritten the constitution, clamped down on dissent and appointed allies across the bureaucracy
- ‘On March 24, the Thai people must raise their voice to stop the military regime’
Thai suspect confesses to killing Cambodian ex-lawmaker
- Lim Kimya was gunned down as he arrived in Bangkok by bus from Cambodia with his French wife
- Thai media have reported that the suspect, Ekkalak Paenoi, was a former marine
"I confess that I did wrong," Ekkalak Paenoi said to police and media after being charged with premeditated murder and unauthorized gun ownership.
Lim Kimya, a former lawmaker for the dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), was gunned down on Tuesday by a motorcyclist as he arrived in Bangkok by bus from Cambodia with his French wife.
Cambodian opposition figures have accused the country's powerful former leader Hun Sen of ordering the shooting.
Police in Cambodia said they arrested the suspect on Wednesday and took him to the Thai border following an extradition request.
He was picked up by a Thai police helicopter on Saturday and taken to Bangkok.
"We can't determine the motives yet, please give us time," said Somprasong Yenthuam, a senior police official.
Thai media have said Ekkalak was a former marine.
Yenthuam told reporters an arrest warrant for a Cambodian accomplice had also been issued.
A Cambodian government spokesman denied official involvement in the slaying.
Scores of Cambodian opposition activists have fled to Thailand in recent years to avoid alleged repression at home. Some were arrested and deported back to the country.
Hun Sen ruled Cambodia with an iron fist for nearly four decades, with rights groups accusing him of using the legal system to crush opposition to his rule.
He stepped down and handed power to his son Hun Manet in 2023, but is still seen as a major power in the kingdom.
France has condemned the killing of Lim Kimya, who also held French citizenship.
Uyghurs detained in Thailand say they face deportation and persecution in China
- Recordings and chat records obtained exclusively by the AP show the men were presented documents asking if they would like to be sent back to China
BANGKOK: A group of Uyghur men who were detained in Thailand over a decade ago say that the Thai government is preparing to deport them to China, alarming activists and family members who say the men are at risk of abuse and torture if they are sent back.
In a letter obtained by The Associated Press, 43 Uyghur men held in Bangkok made a public appeal to halt what they called an imminent threat of deportation.
“We could be imprisoned, and we might even lose our lives,” the letter said. “We urgently appeal to all international organizations and countries concerned with human rights to intervene immediately to save us from this tragic fate before it is too late.”
The Uyghurs are a Turkic, majority Muslim ethnicity native to China’s far west Xinjiang region. After decades of conflict with Beijing over discrimination and suppression of their cultural identity, the Chinese government launched a brutal crackdown on the Uyghurs that some Western governments deem a genocide. Hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs, possibly a million or more, were swept into camps and prisons, with former detainees reporting abuse, disease, and in some cases, death.
Over 300 Uyghurs fleeing China were detained in 2014 by Thai authorities near the Malaysian border. In 2015, Thailand deported 109 detainees to China against their will, prompting international outcry. Another group of 173 Uyghurs, mostly women and children, were sent to Turkiye, leaving 53 Uyghurs stuck in Thai immigration detention and seeking asylum. Since then, five have died in detention, including two children.
Of the 48 still detained by Thai authorities, five are serving prison terms after a failed escape attempt. It is unclear whether they face the same fate as those in immigration detention.
Advocates and relatives describe harsh conditions in immigration detention. They say the men are fed poorly, kept in overcrowded concrete cells with few toilets, denied sanitary goods like toothbrushes or razors, and are forbidden contact with relatives, lawyers, and international organizations. The Thai government’s treatment of the detainees may constitute a violation of international law, according to a February 2024 letter sent to the Thai government by United Nations human rights experts.
The immigration police has said they have been trying to take care of the detainees as best as they could.
Recordings and chat records obtained exclusively by the AP show that on Jan. 8, the Uyghur detainees were asked to sign voluntary deportation papers by Thai immigration officials.
The move panicked detainees, as similar documents were presented to the Uyghurs deported to China in 2015. The detainees refused to sign.
Three people, including a Thai lawmaker and two others in touch with Thai authorities, told the AP there have been recent discussions within the government about deporting the Uyghurs to China, though the people had not yet seen or heard of any formal directive to do so.
Two of the people said that Thai officials pushing for the deportations are choosing to do so now because this year is the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Thailand and China, and because of the perception that backlash from Washington will be muted as the US prepares for a presidential transition in less than two weeks.
The people spoke on condition of anonymity in order to describe sensitive internal discussions. The Thai and Chinese foreign ministries did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Beijing says the Uyghurs are jihadists, but has not presented evidence. Uyghur activists and rights groups say the men are innocent and expressed alarm over their possible deportation, saying they face persecution, imprisonment, and possible death back in China.
“There’s no evidence that the 43 Uyghurs have committed any crime,” said Peter Irwin, Associate Director for Research and Advocacy at the Uyghur Human Rights Project. “The group has a clear right not to be deported and they’re acting within international law by fleeing China.”
On Saturday morning, the detention center where the Uyghurs are being held was quiet. A guard told a visiting AP journalist the center was closed until Monday.
Two people with direct knowledge of the matter told the AP that all of the Uyghurs detained in Thailand submitted asylum applications to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, which the AP verified by reviewing copies of the letters. The UN agency acknowledged receipt of the applications but has been barred from visiting the Uyghurs by the Thai government to this day, the people said.
The UNHCR did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Relatives of three of the Uyghurs detained told the AP that they were worried about the safety of their loved ones.
“We are all in the same situation — constant worry and fear,” said Bilal Ablet, whose elder brother is detained in Thailand. “World governments all know about this, but I think they’re pretending not to see or hear anything because they’re afraid of Chinese pressure.”
Ablet added that Thai officials told his brother no other government was willing to accept the Uyghurs, though an April 2023 letter authored by the chairwoman of the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand first leaked to the New York Times Magazine and independently seen by the AP said there are “countries that are ready to take these detainees to settle down.”
Abdullah Muhammad, a Uyghur living in Turkiye, said his father Muhammad Ahun is one of the men detained in Thailand. Muhammad says though his father crossed into Thailand illegally, he was innocent of any other crime and had already paid fines and spent over a decade in detention.
“I don’t understand what this is for. Why?” Muhammad said. “We have nothing to do with terrorism and we have not committed any terrorism.”
Anger and resentment rise in Los Angeles over fire response
- For Los Angeles residents, the arrival of National Guard soldiers is too little, too late
- Multiple fires that continue to ravage Los Angeles have killed at least 11 people, authorities say
ALTADENA, United States: After being largely reduced to ashes by wildfire, Altadena was being patrolled by National Guard soldiers on Friday.
For residents of this devastated Los Angeles suburb, the arrival of these men in uniform is too little, too late.
“We didn’t see a single firefighter while we were throwing buckets of water to defend our house against the flames” on Tuesday night, said Nicholas Norman, 40.
“They were too busy over in the Palisades saving the rich and famous’s properties, and they let us common folks burn,” said the teacher.
But the fire did not discriminate.
In the upscale Pacific Palisades neighborhood, the first to be hit by the flames this week, wealthy residents share the same resentment toward the authorities.
“Our city has completely let us down,” said Nicole Perri, outraged by the fact that hydrants being used by firefighters ran dry or lost pressure.
Her lavish Palisades home was burnt to cinders. In a state of shock, the 32-year-old stylist wants to see accountability.
“Things should have been in place that could have prevented this,” she said.
“We’ve lost everything, and I just feel zero support from our city, our horrible mayor and our governor.”
Multiple fires that continue to ravage Los Angeles have killed at least 11 people, authorities say.
Around 10,000 buildings have been destroyed, and well over 100,000 residents have been forced to evacuate.
So far authorities have largely blamed the intense 160 kilometer per hour winds that raged earlier this week, and recent months of drought, for the disaster.
But this explanation alone falls short for many Californians, thousands of whom have lost everything.
Karen Bass, the city’s mayor, has come in for heavy criticism because she was visiting the African nation of Ghana when the fire started, despite dire weather warnings in the preceding days.
Budget cuts to the fire department, and a series of evacuation warnings erroneously sent to millions of people this week, have only stoked the anger further.
“I don’t think the officials were prepared at all,” said James Brown, a 65-year-old retired lawyer in Altadena.
“There’s going to have to be a real evaluation here, because hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people have just been completely displaced,” he said.
“It’s like you’re in a war zone.”
Mayor Bass and California Governor Gavin Newsom, both Democrats, have separately called for investigations.
Republican president-elect Donald Trump has fanned the flames of controversy, blaming California’s liberal leadership and encouraging his followers to do the same.
But the highly politicized attacks by Trump — who made false claims about why fire hydrants ran dry — have also frustrated some survivors in Altadena.
“That’s textbook Trump: he’s trying to start a polemic with false information,” said architect Ross Ramsey, 37.
“It’s too early to point fingers or blame anybody for anything,” he said, while clearing ashes from the remains of his mother’s house.
“We should be focusing on the people who are trying to pick up their lives and how to help them... Then we can point fingers and figure this all out, with real facts and real data.”
Malala Yousafzai ‘overwhelmed and happy’ to be back in Pakistan
- The education activist was shot by the Pakistani Taliban in 2012 when she was a schoolgirl
- Pakistan is facing a severe education crisis with more than 26 million children out of school
ISLAMABAD: Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai said Saturday she was “overwhelmed” to be back in her native Pakistan, as she arrived for a global summit on girls’ education in the Islamic world.
The education activist was shot by the Pakistani Taliban in 2012 when she was a schoolgirl and has returned to the country only a handful of times since.
“I’m truly honored, overwhelmed and happy to be back in Pakistan,” she said as she arrived at the conference in the capital Islamabad.
The two-day summit was set to be opened Saturday morning by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and brings together representatives from Muslim-majority countries, where tens of millions of girls are out of school.
Yousafzai is due to address the summit on Sunday.
“I will speak about protecting rights for all girls to go to school, and why leaders must hold the Taliban accountable for their crimes against Afghan women & girls,” she posted on social media platform X on Friday.
The country’s education minister Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said the Taliban government in Afghanistan had been invited to attend, but Islamabad has not received a response.
Afghanistan is the only country in the world where girls and women are banned from going to school and university.
Since returning to power in 2021, the Taliban government there has imposed an austere version of Islamic law that the United Nations has called “gender apartheid.”
Pakistan is facing its own severe education crisis with more than 26 million children out of school, mostly as a result of poverty, according to official government figures — one of the highest figures in the world.
Yousafzai became a household name after she was attacked by Pakistan Taliban militants on a school bus in the remote Swat valley in 2012.
She was evacuated to the United Kingdom and went on to become a global advocate for girls’ education and, at the age of 17, the youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner.
Jeju Air crash black boxes stopped recording before flight crashed
- South Korean and US investigators are still probing the cause of the crash of Jeju Air flight 2216
- Investigators have pointed to a bird strike, faulty landing gear and the runway barrier as possible issues
The black boxes holding the flight data and cockpit voice recorders for the crashed Jeju Air flight that left 179 people dead stopped recording four minutes before the disaster, South Korea’s transport ministry said Saturday.
The Boeing 737-800 was flying from Thailand to Muan, South Korea, on December 29 carrying 181 passengers and crew when it belly-landed at the Muan airport and exploded in a fireball after slamming into a concrete barrier.
“The analysis revealed that both the CVR and FDR data were not recorded during the four minutes leading up to the aircraft’s collision with the localizer,” the transport ministry said in a statement, referring to the two recording devices.
The localizer is a barrier at the end of the runway that helps with aircraft landings and was blamed for exacerbating the crash’s severity.
“Plans are in place to investigate the cause of the data loss during the ongoing accident investigation,” the statement added.
South Korean and US investigators are still probing the cause of the crash of Jeju Air flight 2216, which prompted a national outpouring of mourning with memorials set up across the country.
Investigators have pointed to a bird strike, faulty landing gear and the runway barrier as possible issues.
The pilot warned of a bird strike before pulling out of a first landing, then crashed on a second attempt when the landing gear did not emerge.
