The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Bangkok

  • British journalist charged with arms possession in Bangkok

    British journalist charged with arms possession in Bangkok

    A British journalist was charged with arms possession on Tuesday after he was arrested at a Thai airport for checking in flak jacket plates and gas masks, standard equipment for media heading into war zones and other hostile environments.

    Anthony Cheng, 46, was detained at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport on Monday along with Florian Witulski, a German freelance journalist, before he could board a flight to Iraq via Turkey for an assignment for China-based broadcaster CCTV English.

    Thailand’s Arms Control Act stipulates that gas masks and ballistic vests are war weapons and those carrying them need a license.

    Cheng was carrying three gas masks and four plates for safety vests, said Somchart Maneerat, a police investigator.

    “He faces charge of unlicensed possession of war weapons,” Somchart told Reuters.

    Cheng faces up to five years in prison if he is found guilty, Somchart added.

    A lawyer for Cheng said he had requested bail.

    Witulski, 31, was also detained on Monday night but released on Tuesday.

    Witulski told Reuters they were not aware that licenses were required for the safety gear.

    “The plates were loose and were taken as check-in baggage as we have done before many times,” Witulski told Reuters, adding that he and Cheng had traveled to Iraq and Afghanistan several times and taken plates with them without being stopped by Thai authorities.

    In August 2015, a Hong Kong photojournalist was arrested at the same airport for carrying body armour and a helmet.

    Charges were later dropped.

  • Chief suspect in Bangkok bombing case arrested

    Thai Prime Minister, Prayuth Chan-ocha, said that authorities have arrested the main suspect in a terrorist attack in Bangkok that killed 20 people and injured more than 100 in August.

    He said on Tuesday in Bangkok that the suspect, a foreigner, was arrested on the Thai-Cambodian border.

    “He is foreigner, not Thai,” he said.

    Many of the casualties in the August 17 bombing at a popular religious shrine in the centre of the capital were foreign tourists.

  • 16 killed in Bangkok blast

    16 killed in Bangkok blast

    At least 16 people have been killed after a bomb exploded close to a shrine in the centre of Thailand’s capital, Bangkok.

    More than 80 are reportedly injured in the blast.

    The Erawan Shrine, which was crowded at the time, is a major tourist attraction and foreigners, including Chinese, are among the casualties, the BBC reports.

    No-one has claim responsibility for the attack.

    Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon said the bombers had “targeted foreigners to damage tourism and the economy.”

    “We will hunt them down,” he said.

    The Nation TV channel quoted Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha as saying the government would set up a “war room” to co-ordinate its response.

    National police Chief, Somyot Poompummuang, said that 10 Thais had been confirmed dead, along with one Chinese and one Filipino.

    He said: “Whoever planted this bomb is cruel and aimed to kill. Planting a bomb there means they want to see a lot of people dead.”

    The government in Hong Kong said three of its residents had been injured.

     

  • 19 die in Central Thailand auto crash

    At least 19 people have been killed in a collision between a bus and a lorry in central Thailand.

    At least 20 more people were injured in the incident, which took place in Saraburi province early on Tuesday.

    BBC reported that the double-decker tour bus – which was travelling from Bangkok to Roi Et in the north-east – burst into flames after the collision.

    It was not immediately known how many people were on board the bus. A police investigation is now under way.

    All of those who died were on the bus, Thai newspaper the Nation said.

    The accident happened around 05:00 local time (22:00 GMT) when the lorry veered across the road and hit the bus, the Bangkok Post said.

     

  • World Book Capital team in Bangkok, excites London fans

    World Book Capital team in Bangkok, excites London fans

    The Port Harcourt World Book Capital 2014 team was honoured by the Deputy Mayor of Bangkok, Mr Amorn Kitchawangkul, at the launch of the Thai City’s tenure as UNESCO World Book Capital City (WBCC) for this year.

    The team was presented with some gifts by Kitchawangkul at the opening of special events to mark Thai City as World Book Capital this year.

    Bangkok will accept the WBCC baton on April 23 – World Book and Copyright Day – from the Armenian city of Yerevan, which had a successful run last year.

    UNESCO confers the WBCC on a city in recognition of its dedication to promoting books and reading. Port Harcourt has been nominated as Bangkok’s successor, thanks to a bid put forward by the Rainbow Book Club, which is working in conjunction with the Rivers State government.

    The Port Harcourt team has been focusing on promoting the plans for next year, and networking to form strategic partnerships. Fresh from a successful run at the London Book Fair, it is set to participate in the Bangkok opening events alongside delegates from some countries, including Armenia, Russia, Brunei, Sri Lanka, Singapore and China.

    Delegates will be treated to cultural displays and literary exhibitions, and they will witness the launch of a number of initiatives for the year. Rainbow Book Club founder Mrs Koko Kanlango attended an international conference with theme Reading for the Future, the Future of Reading last Sunday, as part of the inaugural events. The Port Harcourt team will learn from Bangkok as the countdown to 2014 begins.

    Also at the London Book Fair earlier in the week, the team drew media attention to its exciting events for 2014.

    The London Book Fair ran from April 15 to 17, and it attracted the press, publishers, writers and literary enthusiasts from across the world. Most of the participants at the fair flocked the Port Harcourt stand.

    Excited attendees expressed their admiration for the work of the Rainbow Book Club. The positive reception came from industry insiders and the reading public. A British fan of Nigerian literature was startled and pleasantly surprised to learn that Port Harcourt had been given the prestigious title of World Book Capital City. She said she hoped that promoting literacy in Rivers State would have a ripple effect on other parts of the country. This is the aim of the 2014 initiative – to impact not just Port Harcourt but Nigeria and the wider African Continent.

    Another visitor, Mr. Isaac Jaiyeoba, an IT consultant, said: “This is exciting because it is exactly what Nigeria needs, a positive story.”

    Our positive story has also been picked up by the media. Mrs Kalango spoke to the BBC World Service’s Focus on Africa programme. Last Wednesday, in a special arts and culture segment on London’s popular Colourful Radio, another team member talked on the impact the UNESCO award hope to have on reading and development in the Garden City in 2014 on London’s popular Colourful Radio this Wednesday afternoon.

    The Port Harcourt World Book Capital City team is dedicated to raising the country’s profile on the international scene and the wealth of literary talent coming out of Nigeria has been a key focus of their discussions with visitors to their stand. The stand showcases some of this talent in the form of books produced by local authors and publishers such as the beautiful new illustrated coffee table version of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart published by Bookcraft and Farafina Publishers’ book Introducing Nigeria. Also on display are samples of Rainbow’s soon to be released anthology of 50 great Nigerian writers entitled: Nigerian Literature: A Coat of Many Colours.

  • Emirates connects Bangkok

    Emirates Airlines has introduced a fifth daily, non-stop service between Dubai and Bangkok, with the announcement coming just weeks after it launched a daily service between Dubai and Phuket.

    From March 31, 2013, Emirates will operate 35 flights a week between Dubai and Bangkok, plus a daily Airbus A380 service between Bangkok and Hong Kong, and a daily flight between Bangkok and Sydney, which connects on to Christchurch. These services, along with the Phuket flights, take the number of weekly Emirates departures from Thailand to 56.

    March 31, 2013 will also mark the start of the airline’s fourth daily service between Kuala Lumpur and Dubai, while a third daily Manila service started on January 1, 2013 and a third daily.

    Jakarta service will commence on March 1, 2013. Elsewhere in the region, the Singapore service received a boost in capacity following the introduction of a 517-seat A380 to the route in December 2012, while flights from Ho Chi Minh City were launched in June last year.

    “Emirates has been operating flights to Bangkok since 1990 and this capacity increase – combined with the launch of the Phuket service in early December – demonstrates what an important market Thailand is to us,” said Salem Obaidalla, Emirates’ Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations, Far East & Australasia.