A slow cruise boat to China

Asian cruise operator Pandaw is all set to launch the RV Laos Pandaw, a 10-cabin cruiser, on the Mekong River.

 A slow boat to China

Asian cruise operator Pandaw is all set to launch the RV Laos Pandaw, a 10-cabin cruiser, on the Mekong River. Offering cruises on the upper and lower Mekong, the first trip through Laos, Thailand and Myanmar is sold out but bookings for its maiden excursion on the upper Mekong into China are now open. The expedition cover seven nights, beginning in Chiang Saen in Thailand's North. The journey continues and stops over along the border of Myanmar and Laos on its way to Jinhong in Yunnan Province. The Old Mandalay Road in Shan State, the Xiang Kok Akha Village in Laos and a tea plantation and botanical gardens are also on the itinerary. Visit www.Pandaw.com.

Happy in Hong Kong

As one of Hong Kong's must-see Christmas attractions, Harbour City's outdoor Christmas lighting and decoration bring residents and visitors and endless surprises and joy every year. This Christmas, Harbour City partners with Hong Kong Disneyland for the 10th anniversary celebration of "Happily Ever After", transforming the Ocean Terminal Forecourt into a "Happily Ever After" Christmas Avenue from today through January 3. Visitors can enjoy this festive occasion as if they were immersed in Disney fairy tales and celebrate in the company of Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Queen Elsa, Princess Anna and many other Disney pals.

 Holidays with a bang

Affluent Chinese tourists are seeking unique and personalised experiences in the US as they have more confidence and flexibility to travel on their own, tour operators say. "Shooting, hunting and fishing from a luxury yacht are among the most popular activities our customers are pursuing," noted Gary Guo, who is based in Los Angeles and runs Do Your Brand Tour. His company helps travellers design tours or add short side trips to their itineraries. The Chinese tourists are especially interested in shooting firearms because it's not permitted in China. - China Daily/ANN

Source: The Nation

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#Bangkok, Shrine bomb suspect 'has left Malaysia'

Turkish officials have refuted claims from Thai police that the two nations were cooperating in the investigation of last month’s bomb attack in Bangkok.
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Turkey’s embassy in Bangkok yesterday denied that Thai police have reached out about a key suspect who reportedly fled to Turkey, saying it has neither been contacted nor received reply to its own inquiries.

“Up to now this Embassy has not been contacted by Thai authorities in this respect, and we do not have information concerning the investigation,” read yesterday’s statement from the embassy.

A spokesman from Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs is also quoted saying Thailand has ignored requests for information regarding suspects who reportedly fled to Turkey or were Turkish nationals.

“We have not officially received any information about this subject from Thailand," Tanju Bilgic said in a weekly press briefing yesterday in Ankara, Turkey, according to Reuters.

Thai officials have been uncomfortable acknowledging the increasingly international links the investigation has turned up, including a roster of foreign suspects including Turkish and Chinese nationals. Officials had reportedly been instructed to avoid mention of international terrorism or specific groups possibly involved in the attack which killed 20 people, mostly foreign tourists.

It wasn’t until Tuesday that any official credence was given to the theory the attack was linked to an ethnic group in the far west of China and those sympathetic to them in Turkey.

Turkish passports seized from the Pool Anant apartment in Nong Chok district on Aug 29 are displayed at the Metropolitan Police Bureau Wednesday. 
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A day after saying the attack was linked to anger over Thailand’s decision to deport 109 Uighurs under pressure from Beijing, Royal Thai Police chief Somyot Pumpanmuang walked that back today, saying the media “misunderstood” his remarks.

Royal Thai Police chief Somyot Pumpanmuang today walked back statements he made yesterday attributing the attack to anger over Thailand’s deportation of 109 Uighurs under pressure from Beijing. Today he said the media “misunderstood” his remarks.

Police Gen. Somyot said he did not intend to suggest the bombing was revenge for Thailand’s forcible repatriation in July of the Uighurs, but that the attack was a response to recent enforcement efforts against human smuggling operations in the kingdom.

“I said, the bombing at Ratchaprasong Intersection was a consequence of Thai authorities destroying a Uighur human trafficking network, which had been going on for a long time,” he said today. “So they were angry that their business and illegal operations came to an end.”

Yesterday he told the press that “The attack at Ratchaprasong Intersection and the violent incident at Thai Consulate in Turkey stem from the same reason.”

On 9 July, Turkish nationalists stormed the Thai Consulate in Istanbul in protest to the deportation of the Uighur refugees, who had fled China when they were captured in March 2014.  They claimed to be were attempting to flee from alleged persecution in China’s Xinjiang province to Turkey, which is home to a large Uighur diaspora.

Five suspects including one man under arrest have been identified as Turkish nationals. Another suspect in custody and one at large are Chinese nationals from Xinjiang province, the Uighur homeland.

On Monday, the Bangladeshi embassy in Bangkok said the one being sought as a key suspect had flown from Dhaka, Bangladesh to Istanbul, Turkey, on 30 Aug.

Correction: A photo caption in an earlier version of this story misidentified the nature of the raid on a Min Buri apartment. Officers were looking for possible suspects in the bombing but found none.

Source: Khaosod

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Erawan bombing suspect arrested in #Cambodia

Authorities escort a man arrested yesterday who is suspected to be the prime suspect in the Aug 17 bombing of the Erawan shrine. 

A foreigner suspected of involvement in last month’s bombing of the Erawan shrine in Bangkok was arrested in Cambodia and handed over to Thai authorities Tuesday, a police source said.

A informed source in the police investigative team said Cambodian police captured the suspect on Monday and arranged today's handover at the border in the Cambodian border town of Poipet in Banteay Meanchey province, opposite Sa Kaeo's Aranyaprathet district.

He was detained for preliminary investigations at a military camp in Aranyaprathet before Bangkok for further interrogations, the source added.

The source refused to state where the man was arrested in Cambodia and said he was identified only as "Yusufu".

Thai media today widely published a photo of a Chinese passport of a man matching the suspect's description. In the passport, he is identified as Yusufu Mieraili, 25, from Xinjiang province.

Xinjiang is the home province for China's Uighur Muslim minority.

The suspect was believed to be on his way from Thailand to Phnom Penh when he was captured, according to the source.

The source said a senior police officer went to Cambodia to coordinate with authorities there after it had been confirmed the suspect fled Thailand to Cambodia.

Assistant national police chief Pol Gen Chakthip Chaijinda is leading the investigation on the case.

Earlier, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said the man was a "main suspect" in the Aug. 17 bombing at the Ratchaprasong intersection shrine that killed 20 and injured 131.

He is believed to the person seen in CCTV footage wearing a yellow shirt and leaving a backpack behind at the shrine.

Authorities plan to hold a press conference after 5pm to release more details about the arrest of the subject, who was being flown by helicopter back to Bangkok today.
Source: BangkokPost 

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