Thailand – the 17th anniversary of the Indian Ocean Tsunami

A powerful underwater earthquake rumbled off the coast of northern coast of Sumatra island, Indonesia, at 7:59am local time, setting off a series of underwater shockwaves that would eventually be felt right around the rim of the Indian Ocean.

It was the Boxing Day Tsunami (or Indian Ocean Tsunami, or Asian Tsunami) and it started affecting the shorelines around the Indian Ocean, first in the Indonesian region of Aceh, and then Thailand’s southern Andaman Sea shores not long after on Sunday morning, December 26, 2004.

The magnitude 9.1 quake ruptured a 1,500-kilometre stretch of fault line where the Indian and Australian tectonic plates meet. The heavier ocean plate slipped under a lighter continental plate. The effect, and location, proved deadly for anyone living along the shorelines of the Indian Ocean.

Within 20 minutes of the earthquake, the first of several 22 – 33 metre high waves hit the shoreline of Banda Aceh, killing 100,000+ people. Then, in succession, waves rolled over coastlines in Thailand, India and Sri Lanka, killing tens of thousands more. 8 hours later and 8,000 kilometres from its Asian epicentre, the tsunami claimed its final casualties on the coast of South Africa. In all, 230,000 – 250,000 people died, or were never found, making it one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history.

The tsunami reached Phuket and coastal provinces nearby around 10am, causing uncountable losses, devastating the low-lying coastal towns of Patong, Kamala and Koh Phi Phi. Some of the other island beaches had less damage with steep shoreline breaks that took a lot of the initial energy out of the waves.

Just north of Phuket, in Khao Lak, they had a very gentle sloping coastline, so the waves travelled swiftly and reached into areas up to kilometre inshore. Poom Jensen, the grandson of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, and a nephew of the current Thai King, was killed whilst his family was holidaying at Khao Lak.

3 large waves that swept inland along parts of the Andaman Coast on that day.

Official Thai government statistics estimate 4,812 souls were lost to the waves on December 26, 2004, with another 8,457 injured and 4,499 missing, presumed dead.

While confirmed deaths in Phuket officially numbered only 259, another 700 remained listed as missing.

At the time the popular tourist communities were able to clean up and re-open some of their hotels within weeks. A year later much of the damage had been cleaned up and repaired. NGOs rushed to Thailand to assist in the clean up and identification process of the dead.

The tsunami and its aftermath were responsible for immense destruction and loss around the rim of the Indian Ocean. Some locations reported that the waves had reached a height of 20 metres, or more, when they hit the shoreline. In Aceh, up to 30 metres. Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Maldives and Thailand sustaining massive damage.

17 years after the Indian Ocean tsunami swept ashore, a container at the Takua Pa police station in Phang Nga, southern Thailand, still contains personal items from the hundreds of victims whose remains are unlikely to ever be given a name.

Wallets, documents, keys, electronic items, all labeled and catalogued as evidence, await positive identification. Nearby a graveyard contains 340 bodies buried in unmarked graves but police hope that, if people came forward to identify some of the items, there is still hope that some of the bodies could rest in peace with a name attached.

Source - The Thaiger

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#Cambodia - Thousands evacuated from Stung Treng due to floodwaters from Laos dam

Cambodian soldiers evacuate residents by boat from the floodings in Stung Treng province on Thursday. The torrent of water unleashed in a deadly Laos dam collapse has drained into Cambodia, forcing thousands to evacuate, as rescuers battled monsoon rains to find scores of Laotians still missing after entire villages were washed away.

 About 25,000 people living in Siem Pang district in Stung Treng province were taken to safety following the flooding triggered by the collapse of a hydropower dam in neighbouring Laos.

Stung Treng provincial governor Mom Saroeun told The Post on Thursday that rescue workers managed to bring all victims trapped in the floods to high ground. 

Authorities are now providing medicines and basic necessities such as food, mosquito nets and drinking water. 

The authorities said a total of 1,289 families were affected on the Cambodian side after the dam tragedy on Monday evening, which also displaced about 3,000 people and killed at least 26 in Laos. 

The Stung Treng province is in the northern part of Cambodia and located about 50 kilometres away from the Laos border.

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The Ministry of Water Resources said until 3:10pm on Thursday, the water level of Sekong River rose up to 12.10 metres, surpassing the danger level of 11.50 meters.

National Committee of Disaster Management (NCDM) spokesman Keo Vy said: “At 5pm on Thursday the number of evacuees might change as the water level was still rising and I have not received the latest figures yet.”

The situation in Siem Pang district was grim as well. Phen Bunthoeun, Stung Treng Programme Unit Manager of Plan International Cambodia, said houses were flooded and people had to vacate. 

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 “Our findings show that 562 families living in Santepheap and Thmor Keo communes are desperately waiting for emergency assistance such as tents, food, clean water and items related to sanitation,” he said.

Bunthoeun said there was a critical shortage of clean water. Rescue workers have asked local authorities to supply it in containers apart from providing additional tents too. 

Vy said NCDM’s one-year assistance for flood victims includes 10,000 tonnes of rice, 2,000 tonnes of rice seeds and 50 tonnes of crop seeds, while financial aid will only be given if there is a request. 

“These numbers are usually allocated for emergency cases but in the last few years, we have never used them because the provincial authorities managed to cover the expenses."

“The financial package is under a special government allocation and once the situation is severe, the prime minister will authorise the allocation,” he said. 

Vy said in Kratie province, once the Mekong River’s water level reaches 20 meters high, it is considered dangerous as it could flood the low land areas. On Thursday, the water level was recorded at 20.16 metres.

If the water level touches 22 meters, he said it is considered alarming for the Mekong River in Kratie Province.

“Some low land areas – Dam Pout and Dam Lahong – have since submerged due to the rising water,” he said.

 Vy said the ministry had issued a warning to the people living along the low land areas to quickly harvest their crops before the flood arrives.

Source - PhnomPenhPost

#Thailand not seen as safe tourist destination until it fixes problems

TOURISM and Sport Minister Weerasak Kowsurat yesterday urged agencies to sort out a series of problems before they can send a convincing message to the world that Thailand is still a safe destination for tourists.

Weerasak was responding to the Phoenix boat accident that killed 47 Chinese tourists earlier this month off the southern resort island of Phuket. 

There are many issues that authorities should review and rectify to help improve tourists’ confidence in Thailand as a safe destination, Weerasak told The Nation in an interview. 

He said authorities should complete the first phase of the process by paying all compensation that is due to the relatives of victims and return them to their country.

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Authorities should then try to figure out what happened to the boats by retrieving the wreckage for inspection. Concerned agencies should collect statistics nationwide about boat accidents and study international standards for tour boats that can be compared to Thailand. 

He also urged authorities to explain that the cause of the accident was not related to so-called zero-dollar tours or nominee ownership in tourism. “[People] should not generalise. We should be sympathetic to those who lost their loved ones. Money cannot bring them back,” he said. 

He also urged authorities to speed up the completion of a safety standards manual to improve confidence. 

“If we can manage all the issues we then can send a single, convincing message to the world, the Chinese, and local people and ask them to have confidence in us,” he said. The number of Chinese tourist visitors to Phuket has dropped sharply in the wake of the tragedy. 

Source TheNation 

 

16 Myanmar workers rescued from Malaysian fishing boat

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Sixteen Myanmar migrant workers, including three minors under 18 years old, who were allegedly ‘sold’ to a Malaysia fishing boat in southern Thailand were rescued by Thai officials on July 13, according to a Thai-based migrant rights groups.

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 “We were asked to rescue migrants on July 8, and we spent about four days collecting information about the victims and their location. After that we asked Thailand’s Department of Special Investigation to help rescue the victims,” said U Kyaw Thaung, director of the Myanmar Association in Thailand (MAT), on Monday.

He said that initially 13 Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand were sold by a broker to the Malaysian fishing boat that had docked with fake documents at Naya Thiwa Port, Pattani province, in Thailand.

U Kyaw Thaung said each worker had paid 17,000 baht to the broker to find jobs in Indonesia, but the broker sold them to the fishing boat instead.

“When we asked the DSI to help save our workers, it asked for a recommendation letter from the Myanmar Embassy. They rescued our migrants on July 13 when we provided the recommendation letter,” Ko Shwe Tun Aye, chair of Migrant Workers’ Network in Phuket, said Monday.

He said the workers were rescued with the help of the Thai army.

According to MAT, they also rescued other Myanmar migrants, one aged 14 and two aged 17, who had been sold by another broker to the fishing boat on the day the rescue team reached them.

According to U Kyaw Thaung, the 16 Myanmar workers were to be sent to a fishing vessel in Indonesia. Fifteen of the victims are from Rakhine State and one is from Bago Region.

All the rescued victims are being held at a detention center, and Thai officials are planning to arrest the brokers for human trafficking.

Source - mmtimes

Authorities set to cooperate with US police on Thais forced into prostitution

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THAI authorities are waiting for a US request for cooperation to further investigate alleged human trafficking of Thai women for prostitution in several American cities following the latest arrest of 20 suspects who are being prosecuted in US federal courts.

The office of Minnesota’s attorney-general said on Thursday that US authorities would prosecute a total of 21 Thai and American suspects, including one who is still at large, for their roles in a human trafficking network luring Thai women to the US to work as prostitutes.

The Thai consulate’s office in Chicago said it was also working with American counterparts to help Thai victims and suspects now in US custody.

Hundreds of women

However, Pol Colonel Krissana Pattanacharern, the deputy spokesman for Royal Thai Police, said US authorities had not yet contacted Thai officials for cooperation on the human trafficking-for-prostitution case in which hundreds of Thai women were believed to be misled by the suspects to go to the US for legal work but were forced to be prostitutes.

Krissana said the crime took place in the US so Thai authorities could not interfere, but officials were ready to cooperate with US officials.

In the meantime, the Thai Foreign Affairs Ministry was responsible for helping Thai victims and suspects, he said, adding that national police chief Pol General Chaktip Chaichinda had already instructed police to step up surveillance of domestic prostitution networks that could be involved in the trafficking of Thai women to the US.

The Chicago Sun Times earlier reported online that customers of a Thai prostitution ring in that city had become key players in the nationwide US operation in which the culprits rented out apartments for the women, shuttling them from airports and even entering them into sham marriages with brothel bosses so the woman could work legally.

“This is a unique twist I haven’t really seen before,” Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart was quoted as saying.

A federal indictment unsealed last Thursday charged 21 people across the country — including six in the Chicago area — with being involved in sex |trafficking. A related indictment in October charged 17 others.

The Cook County Sheriff’s Office worked with the US Homeland Security Investigations agents to shut down brothels employing Thai women in the Chicago area and arrested six people authorities identified as participants.

Source - TheNation

 

#Thailand - Prostitution bust ‘requires Article 44’

Police escort five suspects linked to the Mae Hong Son |prostitution scandal from Bangkok’s Thung Song Hong Police Station to Ratchadapisek Criminal Court to apply for the first 12-day detention period yesterday morning.

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District chiefs fear offical meddling in probe

THE FEDERATION of Assistant District Chiefs of Thailand filed a petition at Government House yesterday for Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha to use his absolute power under Article 44 of the interim constitution to deal with civil servants involved in the Mae Hong Son underage prostitution scandal.

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The group, led by federation chairman Boonyarit Nipawanit, claimed that the use of normal laws would cause delays and might risk interference by local influential figures. He urged authorities to punish supervisors who were guilty of dereliction of duty or negligence allowing such crimes to take place, as well as officials directly involved in the racket or patronising underage prostitutes. They said that if the case was tackled seriously it could lead to the end of the unofficial tradition of sex services being offered to senior officials. Lawyer Kerdpol Kaewkerd, who represented victims of the prostitution ring and accompanied Boonyarit yesterday, said the government should expedite legal action in the case as there had been attempts to interfere with the work of police investigators by trying to tamper with evidence and witnesses who were not being provided protection. 

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 Kerdpol said that if the investigation was prolonged the victims might lose interest in fighting the case as they would feel that they would not receive justice.

Meanwhile, Phrae deputy governor Wirun Panthewee said he had been at a party to welcome Suebsak Iamwichan last year as he took his position as Mae Hong Son governor, adding the festivities were normal without any suspicious activity. 

Suebsak is being questioned by an Interior Ministry disciplinary panel over his alleged involvement in the case although he maintains that he was innocent. 

Wirun urged the public to not spread rumours about Mae Hong Son people or treat accused officials including Suebsak unfairly unless they are proven guilty. 

Meanwhile, five human-trafficking suspects allegedly involved in the prostitution ring were brought to Bangkok’s Ratchadaphisek Criminal Court yesterday to apply for their first 12-day detention period pending police investigation. 

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 Police opposed their release on bail on the grounds that the case carried a heavy punishment and there was a risk of them tampering with evidence and witnesses.

Anti-Human Trafficking Division (AHTD) chief Pol Maj Gen Kornchai Klayklueng told a yesterday press conference that he believed all involved in human trafficking crime in the ring were already identified – as per the teenage girl’s mother’s testimony that the racket had eight teams under suspect Pol Senior Sgt Major Yutthachai Thongchat. 

Kornchai said local police had 36 complaints and arrested three police officers wanted for the charge of gang rape of a minor, while AHTD had one case with eight suspects, all in custody. He affirmed police would check all points including the identity and involvement of a man called Uncle Pan whose Line chat leakage led to the complaint. 

He said the lie detection device use on victims or suspects were to show sincerity and required them to sign consents first. 

To a witness’s claim a man resembled governor took a girl under 18 to have sex on the night of welcoming party last year, he said it was a heresy, not a direct testimony of the girl in question hence the girl should file the complaint to have police probed it.

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Scrutiny of Mae Hong Son suspects 
 Group 1 
The three suspects in custody for whom a court issued arrest warrants on charges including conspiracy to commit human trafficking to benefit from prostitution. They include Pol Senior Sgt-Major Yutthachai Thongchat of Mae Hong Son’s Nam Piang Din Police Station, who was dismissed from the civil service.
Group 2
The five suspects in custody on charges including conspiracy to commit human trafficking to benefit from prostitution. They are one 30-year-old man and four women aged from 22 to 40.
Group 3
Three police officer suspects attached to Kong Koi police station in Mae Hong Son’s Sop Moei district facing charges of gang rape of a minor linked to the prostitution ring. They have also been dismissed from the civil service due to the alleged breach of discipline.
Group 4 
The five police suspects and one public school teacher accused of buying sex services from the prostitution ring. Previous police applications for arrest warrants were turned down twice on the grounds that they were civil servants with known addresses and were not a flight risk. The court suggested that summonses be issued for them instead.
Group 5
Police are trying to locate six men, including two military officers, a public health official and a district highway official, who are accused of buying sexual services from the prostitution ring.
Persons of interest
Mae Hong Song governor Suebsak Iamwichan is being questioned by an Interior Ministry panel over his alleged involvement. 
The mother of one of the victims this week has also filed a complaint with the Crime Suppression Division against Mae Hong Song police chief Pol Maj-General Preecha imonchaijit, Muang Mae Hong Son precinct superintendent Somkiat Sawngsuk and other officers who served on a disciplinary panel reviewing Yutthachai’s behaviour. 
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Source - TheNation
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#Thailand - Mae Hong Son in the spotlights of child prostitution

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More arrest warrants sought in child prostitution ring in Mae Hong Son

ANTI-HUMAN trafficking police will seek arrest warrants for at least two more persons in connection with the alleged prostitution of minors in Mae Hong Son.

Kornchai Klayklueng, commander of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Division, declined to reveal the names of the suspects yesterday, saying his force would not spare criminals no matter how influential they were.

The mother of one of the victims has claimed that several government officials, including a police deputy superintendent and Mae Hong Song Governor Suebsak Iamwichan, were customers of the ring.

“Her latest interviews with media include new information, particularly the parts regarding alleged sex buyers. I ordered her interviews transcribed,” Kornchai said.

Three alleged procurers have already been charged with human trafficking. They are Pol Senior Sgt-Major Yutthachai Thongchat, who worked at the Nam Piang Din Police Station in Mae Hong Son until the scandal broke, Piyawan Sukma and Piyathas Parpthiensuwan.

Pol Colonel Montri Baothog, a superintendent at the anti-trafficking unit, said there was clear evidence against these three suspects.

He downplayed concerns that one mother had deliberately exposed the ring to hurt three police with whom she had a conflict.

“We have not yet looked into those rumours. But we have handled the case based on evidence,” he said.

Deputy national police Commissioner-General Srivara Ransibrahmanakul said he had already ordered a disciplinary inquiry into the three implicated police.

“There is enough evidence to launch a probe as of now, but not yet to seek arrest warrants,” he said.

 Pol Maj-General Panudej Boonruang, acting deputy Provincial Police Region 5 chief, said an investigation was underway to determine whether this case involved more victims and patrons. The mother, who used to work as a police informant, firmly pointed her finger at Suebsak, saying her daughter was forced into providing sex to this much older man.

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The three alleged victims, now aged 17-19, were dragged into the flesh trade in late 2013 or early 2014.

The Interior Ministry has launched an investigation into Suebsak who has denied any wrongdoing. “I don’t drink or smoke. I don’t visit night entertainment venues either,” Suebsak said. A source said Interior Minister Anupong Paochinda had phoned the Mae Hong Son governor and rebuked him over the alleged human trade controversy in the northern border province.

“I have asked the Mae Hong Son governor about this. I told him that as the governor he has to know what’s going on in his province.

“He can’t say he doesn’t know. It is just a small province and the governor has to know everything,” Anupong was quoted as saying.

He was speaking at a weekly meeting of senior Interior Ministry officials, according to the source.

The mother who is seeking justice for the girls lured into prostitution said there were 11 sex-worker procurement rings in Mae Hong Son.

Atchariya Ruangrattanapong, president of the Help Crime Victim Club, dismissed reports that his club had abandoned the mother after accepting Bt15,000 from her.

“It’s not true. We have helped follow up her case all along. Besides, the Bt15,000 that she gave to the club was for travel expenses that the club’s team had incurred for their trip to pursue the case in Mae Hong Son,” he said.

During the trip to Mae Hong Son, the team talked to several local officials and members of local non-governmental organisations while gathering evidence strongly suggesting that Yutthachai was the head of a procurement ring, he said.

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SOURCE - THE NATION

Thailand PM urges bombers to surrender for own safety

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Wednesday urged bombers who attacked Bangkok this week to turn themselves in for their own safety, saying, otherwise, they could be killed. 

The bombers could be murdered
by the masterminds who hired them to set off explosives at the Erawan shrine and Sathorn pier, Gen Prayut said, expanding on an earlier remark by national police chief Somyot Pumpunmuang that the suspects in the attacks were part of a "network." 

"They know authorities are determined to catch the bombers" and may kill them to ensure their silence, the general said. 

 "I would like to tell those behind the incidents that if they want to be safe, they should turn themselves in. Officials will work out legal solutions to guarantee their safety. It is better than hiding,"
the prime minister said.

Gen Prayut urged the public to look out for and report people who planned violent attacks, saying they would be easy to spot because they're generally amateurs who would be acting strangely and trying to disguise their appearances. 

He noted that CCTV cameras at both the Ratchprasong intersection and Sathorn pier have given authorities clear indications of the suspects' movements. 

 While not disclosing more information about the suspects, the general did rule out that Uighur Muslim terrorists were behind the bombings, saying that if that had been the case, an Uighur group would have 
claimed responsibility by now.

 He attempted to soothe the public by saying violent incidents can happen anywhere in the world at any time because people lacked morality and awareness of the damage that can result from their actions. 
 Source: BangkokPost



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