Thai Govt slammed of mishandling flood warning in Northeast
Originally aired on Channel NewsAsia on July 31, 2017
19 provinces in the Northeast in Thailand are still battling with floods in the aftermath of rain storms last week. While there are small signs of improvement, others are still bracing for more. Meanwhile, the military government is criticized for not giving out a flood warning.
Legal hurdles stand in the way of Thailand's craft beer industry
Originally aired on Channel NewsAsia on July 23, 2017
As craft beer becomes more popular not only to drink, but also to create, long-brewing legal challenges are standing in the way of the market growing any larger.
Final verdict date set in rice case against former Thai PM Yingluck
Originally published on Channel NewsAsia on July 21, 2017
My Channel NewsAsia recap of today's last court hearing date in the case against former PM Yingluck Shinawatra, on trial for negligence in her government's hugely popular, but also hugely controversial rice-pledging scheme. She will give a final testimony on August 1 and the final verdict will be read on August 25, where she could face up to 10 years in prison.
Former PM Yingluck's arrives to last hearing in rice pledging case
Originally published on Channel NewsAsia on July 21, 2017
Former Thai PM Yingluck Shinawatra has her last hearing at the Supreme Court today, where she's charged with negligence of duty in her government's rice-pledging scheme. Here's my short Channel NewsAsia report with the details.
Mass verdicts at human trafficking trial a first step
Originally published on Channel NewsAsia on July 19, 2017
Thailand’s biggest human trafficking trial in numbers: 103 defendants, 62 guilty of 13 different charges, jail time from 4 to 94 years. Among the highest-profile convicted are a former army general (27 years), a former mayor of Padang Besar (78 years), a former official in the Satun provincial official (75 years) and a notorious man who ran a slave camp in the jungle (94 years). And, lest we forget, the court has also ordered the defendants to pay over 4,4m Baht ($131k) in compensation to the #Rohingya victims.
Here's my Channel NewsAsia appearance talking briefly about the significance about the trial as the verdict was still read out - all 500 pages of them.
Thais work around the clock to build final monument to their late King
Originally published on Channel NewsAsia on July 19, 2017
The royal cremation will take place on Oct 26 on a massive pyre being built next to the Grand Palace in Bangkok.
Rights groups call for justice ahead of major Thailand trafficking verdict
Originally published on Channel NewsAsia on July 18, 2017
Thailand should ensure those involved in trafficking migrants are brought to justice, rights groups said on Tuesday (Jul 18). A Thai court is expected to deliver its verdict on Wednesday (Jul 19) in a major trafficking trial involving 103 defendants that has been beset by allegations of intimidation.
Cuddly or cruel? Wild animal cafes draw in visitors, critics.
Originally published Channel NewsAsia on July
Forget cat cafes. There are some places now in Bangkok where you can cuddle a lynx, fennec or meerkat along with your cup of coffee. The owners insist that these are all taken care of well, but critics don't see much purpose in these.
TRANSCRIPT
In a shophouse in Bangkok’s bustling commercial district, there’s a cafe where cats and dogs are living together quite literally - and numerous more exotic cohorts.
This wild animal cafe belongs to Miss Wachiraporn Arampibulphol, who opened this downtown branch last year after the popularity of another one in the outskirts of Bangkok.
"I’ve been looking after these exotic animals since I was in high school and there were more and more of them. So I decided to show others how to take care of them etc," says Wachiraporn, while she was cuddling with a herd of chihuahua dogs. "After I opened this place, I realized that this can be turned into a pet cafe, because so many people are interested and some only want to see and play with one of them."
Pet cafes are nothing new in Asia, or anywhere else for that matter. However in Bangkok in the past few years we’ve seen more cafes where you can interact with wild animals. Animal advocates however are raising concerns and criticism.
There are at least 20 different species here on display like fennecs, silver foxes, meerkats and chinchilla mice - but the owners insist that none are there around clock, none of them are endangered and all are properly licensed.
And while most of the animals are used to human contact, critics say that having them roaming around in a cafe is not the right place.
"They basically say that these are not wild animals, they say that they are pets. They don’t see the difference between a [inaudible] and a dog or a house cat or rabbit. For them it’s the same thing," says Edwin Wiek, the founder and director Wildlife Friends Foundations Thailand. "They also reason that by interacting with these animals, they will understand and get to know these endangered animals much more - which of course isn’t true, because what do you learn from interacting with an wild animal inside a living room? There’s no natural behaviour whatsoever. So the educational value is definitely not there."
But that doesn’t seem to deter the visitors, both tourists and locals alike.
"Yeah, it seems like it - I mean they give the foxes a little break in between people going in to make sure they’re not overwhelmed, and the food is also really good," says Kimmya, an American tourist. Her friend Lauren agrees: "Yeah, I mean, it seems like they’re really taking good care of their animals and facilities are really clean, good temperatured air condition, yeah…"
"Yes, I think I can see that the staff love the animals very much, 'cause they’re caring the animals and cuddling them," says Lyn from Singapore.
Whether these wild animals cafes are educational or purely for entertainment, it is evident that these little creatures will continue to draw attention from all places.
Saksith Saiyasombut, Channel NewsAsia, Bangkok
From stocks to sandwiches: Thais remember Asian Financial Crisis 20 years on
Originally published on Channel NewsAsia on July 3, 2017
Mr Sirivat Voravetvuthikun would not have thought that he would be selling sandwiches on the streets of Bangkok at 68 years old. In 1997, he was a multi-millionaire stock broker and had expanded into property development, but then the Asian Financial Crisis hit.