#Bangkok - Immigration and Police Conduct Nightlife Security Sweep in Nana Area

 

On the night of November 9, 2023, Bangkok's Nana district saw a concerted effort by the Immigration Bureau Division 1 and the Lumpini Police Station to enhance security measures. 

The operation involved X-ray screenings and detailed inspections targeting areas frequented by tourists at night, with a focus on Sukhumvit Soi 3 and Soi 3/1, reported Siam Rath.

This initiative, led by senior immigration and police officials, was designed to boost public confidence, ensure the safety of visitors, and preempt any disturbances, especially in light of potential international conflicts impacting Thailand.

Police Colonel Kajaphon Pathamang from Division 1 stated that the operation aligns with the policies set by the national police leadership, aiming to fortify the Immigration Bureau's role in safeguarding the country.

The strategy includes strict supervision and collaboration with other security entities to monitor vulnerable locations for any security threats and transnational criminal activities.

Following strategic discussions between the Immigration Bureau and the Metropolitan Police Bureau, the authorities have committed to maintaining these rigorous patrols.

The public is encouraged to assist by reporting any unusual or suspicious behavior to the emergency hotline 191 or the Immigration Bureau's hotline 1178, both available around the clock.

Source: ASIAN NOW

Thailand - Four more boys brought out of tham luang cave on 2nd successful day.

AS THE WORLD watches with awe, the dramatic rescue of the 12 boys and their football coach from Tham Luang cave, is unfolding successfully by the hour.

As of yesterday, at least eight of the 13 have been evacuated from the flooded Tham Luang cave in Chiang Rai province and they are now being observed at Chiangrai Prachanukroh Hospital. 

The decision to evacuate the stranded 13 was made on Sunday morning and by evening four of the boys had been rescued, taking advantage of a window of opportunity. The mission plunged into the task again yesterday and managed to pull another four out by evening. Rescuers are planning to save all the remaining footballers from the Chiang Rai cave before the monsoon rains unleash their full wrath.

 The drama began 17 days ago as the assistant football coach of a local football team, Mu Pa Academy Mae Sai, and 12 team members visited the mountainous region on June 23. The 13 got stranded deep in the Tham Luang cave following sudden flash floods. The children are aged between 11 and 16 years old and their coach is 25. The muddy floodwaters, the pitch darkness and thin air inside the cave hampered initial rescue efforts. The desperate rescue operation expanded rapidly as numerous rescue workers, the Royal Thai Navy’s SEALs, academics, many organisations in Thailand, and foreign experts, joined the rescue operation.

Since June 30, the floodwater level inside the cave has begun subsiding significantly thanks to the deployment of powerful pumps, diversion of water, and the gesture of farmers in the vicinity to let their fields be flooded in order to drain water from the cave.

 On July 2, foreign divers found all 13 Mu Pa members alive at a dry spot about 5 kilometres from the cave’s entrance. 

Serious preparations for their removal began, including a crash course in diving for the stranded survivors, with evacuations finally kicking off on Sunday. 

Foreign diving specialists and Thai SEALs have already successfully helped at least eight footballers brave through perilous narrow passages and tunnels in the cave, with two divers escorting each of the evacuees. 

Some flooded passages within the cave are reportedly less than 40 centimetres wide, making it impossible to pass through with an oxygen tank on the back. Buoyed by Sunday’s success, the same diving evacuation team launched the second phase of the operations at about 11am yesterday. 

Former Chiang Rai governor Narongsak Osottanakorn, who heads the rescue-operations command, said the divers were sufficiently rested and oxygen tanks had been replaced along their route by the support team. 

Narongsak said yesterday afternoon that the prospects for their mission were looking good. “The conditions [yesterday] are as great as on Sunday, with regard to the floodwater level, the amount of air, and the strength of the Mu Pa team members,” he said. 

Although it has been raining in Chiang Rai province over the past few days, the floodwater level is still manageable. 

The Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department’s deputy director-general Kobchai Boonyaorana said that the floodwater level inside the cave was even lower. 

“There is some rain. But water drainage at the cave has gone as well as planned,” he said. At present authorities have not revealed the identities of the evacuees out of concern for the feelings of parents whose boys are yet to come out. Narongsak only confirmed that the first four evacuees from the cave were in good physical condition. 

An ambulance exits from the Tham Luang cave area as rescue operations continue for those still trapped inside the cave in Khun Nam Nang Non Forest Park in the Mae Sai district of Chiang Rai province yesterday. 

While the rescue efforts have achieved incredible success, they have been beset by one fatality. Former SEAL, Petty Officer First Class Samarn Kunun, 38, died during the rescue operation last week.

Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha, who headed to Chiang Rai last night to view the progress, said HM King Maha Vajiralongkorn had provided assistance to Samarn’s family. Prayut said the King had also emphasised that the family of the deceased should receive good care from relevant organisations. 

Source - TheNation

High Security Alert in Thailand

Media reports indicate that the security forces are now on a higher alert following an advisory that Thailand is one of the many countries at risk from IS.

As in western nations, the security forces have raised security at airports and at major tourist cities, following an advisory  statement issued by the US Embassy in Bangkok based on US intelligence.

This is not the first time that security has been tightened recently.  a similar advisory from the Russian Embassy also saw an alert last month.

With Western and Asian nations all working  IS Awareness campaigns, Cities such as Bangkok, Pattaya, Chiang Mai, Phuket can expect to see a visible security presence.

CARRYING DOCUMENT AT ALL TIMES

Carrying valid Thai ID and/or copies of passports along with copies of the visas inside them is a requirement in Thailand.  In fact it was required that the original passport be in your possession at all times.  a recent statement in Bangkok allows copies to be accepted as long as you have access to the original.  Thai people too are required to have their ID with them, this is not a discriminatory requeirement but a logical one, especially at times of heightened secuirty.

In Pattaya and Chiang Mai, Police have had cause to visit tourist establishments and take in all visitors without ID.  To date they have all been able to find their passports in hotels or room where they stay.  To date all have been treated well and freed without penalty HOWEVER there is provision within the Thai law to fine if required.

Carry your Documents at all times.  Thailand is a safe country, no more or less dangerous than any other tourist country, Assisting police and authorities by carrying documentation will free them up to deal with other problems and lessen the chance that you evening is interrupted

Source: Pattaya103.com

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Thai police have broken up a major fake passport ring

Some of the counterfeit passports.

 Cops smash fake passport ring headed by Iranian master forger.

 Thai police have broken up a major fake passport ring led by an Iranian known as "The Doctor" which sent thousands of passports to Middle Eastern customers trying to enter Europe, officers said today.

The kingdom has long been a hub for a forged document industry serving human traffickers and other criminals.

Five years of investigation culminated in Monday's arrest of the alleged Iranian mastermind Hamid Reza Jafary, police said.

The 48-year-old had for many years been crafting sophisticated forgeries from his home in Chachoengsao province east of Bangkok, they said.

"He (Jafary) produced passports for people from countries including Iran, Syria and Afghanistan who were escaping wars and wanted to enter Europe," said immigration police commander Lieutenant General Nathathorn Prousoontorn.

Clients emailed "The Doctor" their photos and specified the country for which they wanted a passport, the commander said, adding he guaranteed customers they would not be detected by border officials.

The forged documents were then sent via private courier companies.

It was not immediately clear if "The Doctor" provided passports to people fleeing to Europe during the current migrant crisis.

"He himself used six different passports — three from Brazil, and one from each of Peru, Portugal and New Zealand. He was wanted by security agencies in many countries, especially the EU and Japan," Nathathorn added.

Jafary's fake passports were the "best quality in the market", an immigration officer who asked not to be named told AFP.

But he could not fake the latest microchipped travel documents, police added.

Five Pakistani middlemen were also arrested in raids in and around Bangkok for assisting the forgery ring, which allegedly shipped passports to overseas clients for up to THB 80,000.

Some of the nearly 200 travel documents found in a Monday raid on Jafary's home were completely forged, while others had been stolen from tourists and doctored, police said.

The raid also uncovered a laser engraving machine, rolls of thin leather for passport covers and metal stamps from various countries.

Thousands of passports are reported missing annually in Thailand, where forged documents of every variety can be purchased on the streets.

The flourishing market has helped establish Thailand as a hub for human traffickers and smugglers.

Two Uighur men awaiting trial for planting a deadly bomb in Bangkok last August have also been accused by police of running a crime group that helped illegal migrants obtain counterfeit documents.

The pair are currently being held in a military prison.

In 2014 the spotlight also swung onto the Thai-based trade when two mystery passengers boarded the doomed Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 using European passports stolen in Thailand.

In 2010 Thai authorities took part in an international police sting that saw two Pakistanis and a Thai woman arrested in Thailand for providing fake passports to groups behind global terror attacks.

Story: AFP

Source: Coconuts 

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Bangkok bomb suspect confesses to possession of explosives, say police

Yusufu Mieraili was handed over to the police yesterday by the NCPO. Photo: Royal Thai Police

One of the two men arrested over last month’s deadly Bangkok bombing has admitted to a charge of possessing explosives, police said Monday, in the first confession over the unprecedented attack on Thailand.

Thai police say the suspect, Yusufu Mieraili, was arrested last week near the border with Cambodia.

“We have informed him of the charge. He acknowledged and confessed to the charge,” national police spokesperson Prawut Thavornsiri told reporters.

Police have not revealed his nationality, although he was caught in possession of a Chinese passport with a birthplace listed as Xinjiang — home to the country’s oppressed Uighur Muslim minority.

A second man identified as Adem Karadag has already been charged over the crime after he was caught in a flat in a Bangkok suburb with bomb-making paraphernalia and dozens of fake Turkish passports.

Police have said neither man is thought to have physically planted the bomb on Aug 17 at a religious shrine in downtown Bangkok that killed 20 people.

But they are confident the pair are involved in the network blamed for the attack, which rocked the capital and dented faith in Thailand’s key tourist sector.

Mystery surrounds the alleged bombers’ motive but speculation has hardened on links to China’s Turkic-speaking Uighur minority.

Thailand deported scores of Uighur refugees to China early in the summer, prompting protests in Turkey where some nationalists hold a deep affinity with the minority group.

Source: Coconuts 

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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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#Bangkok, Court approves two more arrest warrants

The Min Buri Court Monday approved two more arrest warrants for a Thai woman and a foreigner suspected of involvement in the Erawan Shrine bombing, Police spokesman Pol Lt Gen Prawut Thawornsiri said.
Prawut said the court approved an arrest warrant for Wanna Suansan who rented an apartment room in Min Buri. The court also approved an arrest warrant for the second foreigner who was seen living in the room rented by Wanna.

Police found fertiliser and explosive that could be used to make bombs inside Wanna's rented room, the spokesman added.

Shortly after the August 17 blast that killed 20 people and injured more than 100 others, the court approved an arrest warrant for a foreigner who was seen on CCTVS placing a backpack in the compound of the shrine before the bomb went off.

On Saturday, police arrested a foreigner at an apartment in Bangkok's Nong Chok district. Police refused to say whether the suspect was the alleged bomber wanted in the first arrest warrant.

Prawut said Monday that the arrested suspect was involved with the Ratchaprasong and Sathorn pier bombings but his nationality was still not clear.

The spokesman said police are also seeking warrants for arrest of several more suspects.

Source: The Nation 

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Phone data leads to arrest Bangkok Bomber

NOTHING TO CHANCE: More than 100 police and military officers were involved in the arrest. 

 News > Security Phone data leads to bomb arrest Ball bearings and bomb-building equipment found in suspect's room.

A police source close to the investigation said the arrest of the foreign man, who is believed to be Turkish, came after investigators spent more than a week sifting through every mobile phone call made within the vicinity of the shrine around the time of the bombing on Aug 17. 

He said officers managed to identify three Turkish phone numbers which had activated international roaming services and were in use near the blast site.
.Police apparently traced one of those phone numbers to the suspect apprehended yesterday. Around 100 police and soldiers moved in to make the arrest around 3pm at the Pool Anant apartment building in Nong Chok district, in the city’s eastern outskirts.
.A military source said the suspect held a Turkish passport by the name of Adem Karadag, 28, although the document was later found to be fake.
.A large quantity of bomb-making materials and equipment which allegedly belong to the suspect were seized from his rented room.

READ MORE: BangkokPost
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Tourists Among 19 Killed by Bomb at #Bangkok's Erawan Shrine

Erawan Shrine

BANGKOK — A bomb attack killed 18 people including tourists in the commercial heart of the Thai capital Monday evening.
 
At least 123 more were injured by the powerful blast which hit a popular landmark heavily frequented by Thais and tourists alike at 6:55 pm.

One Filipino victim and two Chinese nationals were among those killed, outgoing police chief Somyot Pumphanmuang said. Twelve died at the scene and another seven have since died in hospital, according to the latest information from authorities.

"We have not discarded any possible motive," Somyot said at a news conference at the Royal Thai Police headquarters, located meters away from the scene of the attack. Despite media reports indicating one bomb was attached to a utility pole while a second detonated from a motorcycle, Somyot denied a car bomb was involved, saying the bomb was planted on the scene.

While no one has taken credit for the attack and authorities said it's too early to speculate, Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwan told Reuters it was meant to harm Thailand's economy.

"The perpetrators intended to destroy the economy and tourism because the incident occurred in the heart of the tourism district," Prawit said.
 
Anusith Kunakorn of Thailand's National Security Council said "details about the explosion are still confusing, so we cannot conclude whether it is about an accident or a political incident. Related authorities are urgently working to clarify this matter. Once we have conclusive information, we will inform the people." 

The bomb left a gruesome scene. Photos showed blood, bodies and human remains around the shrine as rescue workers rushed to provide aid near the shrine, which is a popular tourist destination.

Soon after the blast, police spokesman Prawuth announced bomb units were dispatched to the scene on suspicion there more bombs. Despite reports two more bombs were found and disarmed, Prawuth said they turned out to not be bombs.
 
In images tweeted by JS 100 radio just after the blast, fires were burning in Sukhumvit Road, which runs through the capital's cosmopolitan center.
Photos from the scene appeared to show an injured Caucasian woman being taken away on a stretcher.

There is no indication yet of what caused the explosion during rush hour. Roads around the area have been closed, and authorities said the area would remain closed Tuesday while the scene is investigated.

Surrounded by luxury malls and hotels, Rajaprasong intersection is in the heart of Bangkok's commercial shopping district. The Erawan Shrine is an important, sacred symbol in the Thai capital. In 2006, a mentally ill young man damaged the shrine with a hammer and was immediately killed by an angry crowd.

An area popular with the Bangkok elite, it was also the epicenter of protracted anti-government street protests in 2010.

Earlier this year a small bomb detonated not far from the scene of tonight's blast outside one of the capital's most popular shopping malls.
No one was injured in the 1 Feb. attack which occurred during the evening between the Siam Paragon shopping mall and BTS Skytrain station. 

Authorities attributed that attack to political groups opposed to the military regime. Thailand has been under military rule since it seized power in May 2014.

In April a car bomb exploded in the basement of shopping mall on Koh Samui in southern Thailand, injuring seven people. The car used in the attack was reported stolen from a province the deep south, where security forces have been engaged in a long and bloody conflict with a homegrown insurgency movement seeking independence.

Despite widespread rumors online, the military government has not ordered businesses and schools closed tomorrow, according to junta spokesman Winthai Suwaree. The BTS Skytrain and MRT subway systems are expected to be operating as normal.

However late Monday night, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration announced 438 schools in greater Bangkok will be closed.
The Thai International Red Cross Society announced it has adequate supplies of blood at this time.

Source: Khaosod

Reports emerging of police drug testing scam in Bangkok

Reports are emerging that the police in Bangkok have been harassing tourists on what is claimed to be a crackdown on illegal drug use.

Visitors and tourists have reported being regularly stopped, searched, interrogated and asked to provide urine samples that if found to test positive for drugs can lead to lengthy fines and prison sentences. Apparently these tests have a 10% margin of accuracy leading to fears that many drug tests have returned back positive when those tested have not taken any drugs.

Random tests in the country are not unusual however in tourist areas it seems the random tests are in the up. Visitor Reese Walker told the Bangkok post in November that she and her fiancé were stopped twice by the police in only two days. The report says that they were searched, interrogated and required to provide samples of urine. According to her report they were doing nothing out of the ordinary when the tests were ordered. In her letter to the editor she said “This is our first and last visit to Thailand, the harassment of tourists is unacceptable, we don’t be recommending other people to visit Thailand based on our two frightening incidents that we believe to be racial profiling.

Critics of the police say that these activities are not intended to reduce crime, but are a means to elicit bribe money from unsuspecting and often terrified tourists. Since the harassment is primarily a means of extortion, even those who are not in possession of drugs and have not tested positive for illegal drug use are in danger. Incriminating evidence can be planted and urine samples can test as positive due to the use of a contaminated container, for example.

Source:  Samui Times