A “dark skinned” farang thought it would be jolly good fun to urinate on the road from a moving song thaew (known in Pattaya as a baht bus). 

So he undid his zipper and got out what Sanook called his “anaconda” and started relieving himself all along Sukhumvit Road.

The man – said to have dark skin by Sanook – was having the time of his life as his mates egged him on laughing and joking.

This highly inappropriate behavior was witnessed by a candidate for Region 7 in the upcoming election who was out canvassing. Pramet Ngamphichet got one of his staff to tell the driver what he had seen when the song thaew stopped at the red light at the Huay Yai intersection.

Driver Thaweesak said he would take them to Pattaya police station to file a report.

Thaweesak later told Sanook that he had picked up six on seven tourists and was in the process of taking them along Sukhumvit Road to Central Beach, Pattaya.

He had been unaware of what had transpired but having been informed by the candidate’s rep he resolved to go to Pattaya police station.

However, as he turned into the police station the group of tourists got wise to the impending trouble and fled in several directions.

 

Source: Sanook

Traffic police fined the drivers of a city bus and a pickup truck that spewed black exhaust smoke on Bangkok’s Phitsanulok Road on Friday.

The two vehicles were also banned from roads for 30 days and ordered to get repaired during that time, said city police deputy chief for traffic Pol Maj-General Jirasan Kaewsaeng-ek.

Jirasan led officers to detect exhaust-spewing vehicles in the area near the Education Ministry head office, to tackle traffic pollution.

The Route No 23 (Thewet-Samrong) spewed 71 per cent black smoke while the pick-up spewed 100 per cent black smoke, well beyond the legal limit of 45 per cent.

The unnamed pick-up driver was fined Bt1,000 and threatened with a  Bt5,000 fine if the driver repeated the offence, while the bus driver faced a smaller fine reportedly based on the percentage of exhaust fumes.

Source: The Nation

KOH SAMUI — A British businessman on Koh Samui ran foul of the law Wednesday for innovating in the kitchen by adding cannabis to his tom yum goong.

Gary Coughlan, 58, was arrested and charged with drug offenses this morning after policemen noticed he was acting erratically, police told reporters. They said he tested positive for drug use.

Police said Coughlan, a real estate developer who has been living on Koh Samui for 22 years, confessed to eating the spicy shrimp curry infused with marijuana prior to his arrest, citing its benefits for good sleep. He said a Thai friend provided the substance.

Although the interim parliament recently passed a law legalizing medical marijuana, unsanctioned use of the plant remains illegal. Violators face jail time of up to a year.

Gary Coughlan, center, stands between two police officers Wednesday on Koh Samui.

Source: khaosodenglish.com

HUMAN RIGHTS defenders are calling for an end to capital punishment for women as a next step forward to achieving the universal abolition of death sentences in Thailand.

A public forum hosted by the Union for Civil Liberty (UCL) on Monday discussed a proposal to ban the death sentence for female inmates in Thailand, and concluded that executing women is not only ineffective in suppressing crimes but also contributes to additional social problems.

Assoc Professor Gothom Arya, director of Mahidol University’s Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies, has pushed for the abolishment of capital punishment for all convicts, but acknowledged strong public opinion in favour of retaining the sentence.

A gradual step-by-step approach to abolition would better suit the country, Gothom suggested, adding that it is more practical than going against majority public opinion and abolishing it in one move.

“Thailand has already abolished death sentence for pregnant women and youth, so it appears the next step would be to officially end the execution of female convicts,” he said.

“We need a new round of legislative reforms that abolishes the execution of women, just like our current law prohibits the execution of pregnant women and youth.”

In addition to an active campaign for legislative reform, he emphasised that human-rights defenders must work on raising public awareness so society can understand the flaws of capital punishment.

Though the execution of women is not common in Thailand – with only three female convicts executed since 1932, with the last being put to death 19 years ago – it is believed neither male nor female convicts are safe from capital punishment under the current political climate.

Last year Thailand was on the verge of being recognised for not carrying out a death sentence for 10 consecutive years. Despite capital punishment still being meted out by judges, no convict had been put to death in Thailand since 2009. However, this record was broken when the authorities executed a 26-year-old male convict on June 18, 2018.

Most countries have stopped carrying out the death sentence. The UCL has been campaigning against capital punishment, as this unacceptable practice is in direct conflict with the basic principles of human rights. The group said Thailand will ultimately find it impossible to go against the global trend.

Also, the UCL noted that putting female convicts to death has proved to be ineffective in maintaining justice in society and has led to tougher social problems.

Angkhana Neelapaijit, a National Human Rights Commissioner (NHRC), noted that studies on the statistics and backgrounds of female prisoners in Thailand have found that most were sentenced for crimes related to domestic violence and narcotics.

“These crimes were not caused by personal wickedness. Instead, these women were forced by the circumstances, their environment and problems in our social structure to commit these crimes. So killing these women will not solve the problem,” she said.

Hence, she said, the authorities should change their attitude toward the corrections system and prioritise treatment for the wrongdoers and turn them into good citizens, instead of punishing them severely for their crimes.

Human-rights lawyer Natthasiri Bergman emphasised that many women behind bars were breadwinners and mothers, so locking them away or putting them to death greatly affects their families.

Natthasiri also cautioned that keeping these women away from their children forces the young ones to grow without maternal care.

“The impact from the absence of a mother is significant, and can contribute to more crimes, violence and other social problems in the future,” she added.

Source: The Nation

 

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