Feng Shui Fails To Stop Gov’t House ‘Ghosts’

BANGKOK :- - A state employee has reported encountering a ghost inside the Government House, just days after officials completed a series of rituals aimed at appeasing the spirits believed to reside inside the building.

Sinsakorn Aroon, a 60-year-old official, told reporters yesterday that he saw a ghostly phenomenon inside Nari Samosorn Building at around 6 pm on Wednesday.

Mr. Sinsakorn, who is in charge of the audio system in the Government House's press conference room, said he was preparing to leave the conference room when he spotted a woman sweeping the floor near the reception room.

"I said to her 'You are still working? I will leave now. When you leave please lock the door,'" recalled Mr. Sinsakorn, who said he initially thought the woman was a housekeeper. "Then I wondered why a housekeeper would be cleaning at this hour. The repair workers were already done and the building's housekeepers had already gone home."

With that realisation, Mr. Sinsakorn said he suddenly felt cold. The woman then walked into a set of doors and disappeared right in front of him, the official claimed.

"If she was a human, I would have heard the door move," Mr. Sinsakorn said. "I was frozen on the spot. I could only hear traditional Thai music, even though I didn’t hear that sound earlier. Once I regained my conscience, I ran off and shut the door."

Mr. Sinsakorn said he has heard tales about Government House ghosts from other officials, including a painter who claimed a female ghost told him in his dream to use "dark colours" when he painted inside the building, and an official who said workers noticed a scent of mysterious “ancient perfume” during the recent renovation.

"I think I saw the ghost because she wants to instruct me to keep the building clean," Mr. Sinsakorn said. "I plan to make merits for her soul."

This latest apparition took place despite the fact that a feng shui master was recently hired to oversee the realignment of plants and furniture inside the Government House. Military junta chairman and Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha also prayed to spirits at several different altars in the complex on his official first day of work this week.

A number of Government House officials privately told our correspondent that they believed the female ghost manifested herself to Mr. Sinsakorn because the ceremonies needed to appease the supernatural entities watching over the area were not properly conducted.

Soi By Soi, German Father Searches On Foot For Sons In Chiang Mai

CHIANG MAI: -- A German father walked from soi to soi in Saraphi district, Chiang Mai province, to search for his two sons who were taken by his Thai wife three weeks ago.

Max Pfaffstaller has spent two weeks walking and handing out flyers which contain photos and information of family to locals after his wife Suban Pfaffstaller, 39, disappeared on a motorbike with their two sons age 4 and 2.

"I started walking and looking for them all day and night," Max told Nation TV. "I miss my sons very much, and my parents in Germany are also very worried. They cannot sleep either."

Thai-Indian Girl Commits Suicide In Burning Car

PATTAYA – September 11, 2014 [Pattaya Daily News]; at 15.30 pm Pol.Capt.Rasita Nenpong-female inspector of Na Jomtien police station- was notified that a car was on fire and there was a deceased inside it in front of Khao Chi Chan. After notification the police officers and Sawang Rojjana Thmma Satharn rescue team immediately rushed to the scene.

At the scene the officials found a Honda Jazz that had been severely damaged by fire. Upon inspecting the car, they found the body of Ms.Pittasnan Darsing aged 44 a Thai-Indian who was a Koh Larn tour guide. Initially the officials sent the body for an autopsy at the forensics, police hospital.

BKK Students Killed In Suspected Gang Assassination

BANGKOK :- - Two college students were shot dead and a third was seriously injured in what police suspect was a fight between rival gangs in Bangkok yesterday evening.

Two students from Pathumwan Institute of Technology were killed while they were riding a motorcycle on Tert Damri Road near Bang Sue train station at around 5 pm yesterday, police say.

Witnesses told police they saw another motorcyclist pull up next to the students and open fire on the pair before speeding away. The two students, 18 and 21 years old, were killed by the gunshots, Pol.Col. Chamnarn Waicharoen said.

Hours earlier another shooting also occurred in the same area. A student from Rajamangala University of Technology Rattanakosin (RUTR) was shot by an unidentified assailant while he was riding on a Bangkok - Lopburi train that had stopped at Bang Sue Train Station.

CCTV footage and witnesses' testimony indicate that a gunman ran up to the train shortly after it stopped at the station, opened fire on the 20-year-old student, and ran away from the scene. The student was severely injured by the gunshot, police say.

The suspect was described as a lean man with short hair wearing a white T-shirt and jeans at the time of the attack. Police have urged citizens to report any information related to the incident.

Pol.Maj.Gen. Chantawit Ramasut, deputy commander of Metropolitan Police Bureau, said the two cases may be related, but stressed that more investigation is needed. Parents of the students involved in the two shootings have been summoned to give testimony, he added.

Bangkok’s technical colleges are known for their association with rival gangs whose confrontations occasionally turn deadly.

Last night, police in Samut Prakarn arrested 13 college students who were carrying a number of swords and knives near Kanchanapisek Road. Police say the arrest was a part of crackdown on student gang violence in the area.

Thai Coup Leader Warns Against Insulting The Monarchy

BANGKOK, September 12, 2014 (AFP) - Thai junta leader Prayut Chan-O-Cha Friday said his regime would use legal, psychological and technological measures to protect the monarchy against defamation in his first official policy speech as premier.

The warning came as Amnesty International said an "unprecedented" number of people have been charged with insulting the royals since the coup, with 14 Thais indicted under the controversial lese majeste law in less than four months.

Revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej, 86, is already protected by one of the world's toughest royal defamation laws -- anyone convicted of insulting the king, queen, heir or regent faces up to 15 years in prison on each count.

"We will use appropriate legal measures, psychological measures and communication technology against ill-intentioned people," Prayut said in a televised speech to members of the National Legislative Assembly, without elaborating on the exact methods of scrutiny.

Since seizing power on May 22, the army and junta chief -- who was also appointed as prime minister last month -- has emphasised his commitment to protecting the monarchy.
"The monarchy is the key pillar of our country... to create national unity," Prayut said Friday.

The king has no official political role but is seen as a unifying figure in a country that has been frequently riven by political violence, particularly since a military coup in 2006.

Last month a 28-year-old musician was sentenced to 15 years in jail for writing insulting Facebook posts about the monarchy between 2010 and 2011.

In another recent case a taxi driver was jailed for two and a half years after his passenger, a university lecturer who recorded their conversation on a mobile phone, accused him of expressing anti-royal views, Amnesty said.

Under the law anyone can make an accusation of insulting the monarchy and the police are duty-bound to investigate.

Critics say the legislation has been politicised, noting that many of those charged in recent years were linked to the "Red Shirts" protest movement, which is broadly supportive of fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

On Thursday junta spokesman Winthai Suvaree denied there had been an increase in royal defamation charges under military rule.

Prayut has said the army was forced to take control after months of protests against former premier and Thaksin's younger sister Yingluck left 28 people dead and hundreds injured, effectively paralysing her government.

But critics say the protests provided a pretext for a power grab in the latest chapter of Thailand's deep political divide.

The long-running political conflict broadly pits a Bangkok-based middle class and royalist elite, backed by parts of the military and judiciary, against rural and working-class voters loyal to Thaksin.

Thaksin was toppled in a coup in 2006 and lives in self-exile to avoid prison for a corruption conviction.

Thai Student Wins £1 Million Jackpot In UK

BANGKOK: -- A Thai female student at Chester University has became a millionaire after winning one million pound prize from just a two pound stake in her local bookies, the Mirror daily reported yesterday.

The UK-based daily said Jiratchaya Klongkarn, 29, a business administration masters degree student at Chester won £1million from a £2 stake in her local bookies.

It said she matched all six numbers in the 49′s game at Ladbrokes.

The 29-year-old had only been playing the game for four months – and had already won £601 in June.

Jirtchaya, who is originally from Thailand, picked 8 and 12, as her birthday is the 12th of August, then the remainder at random.

She said: “I’m over the moon and I still can’t believe it. When I finally found out I was so excited.

“It still doesn’t feel real and I’ve barely slept. I had some bad luck earlier on in the year but this has made up for it.”

The student and her friends have already booked a trip to Chester racecourse tomorrow and will celebrate the win there

She will also share her new fortune with her mother, who still lives in Thailand.

The windfall in Chester is the second million pound payout for Ladbrokes within a year following a jackpot won from a £4 stake in Bournemouth in December 2013, and the latest winner joins an exclusive club of no more than 15 betting shop millionaires created in history.

Alex Donohue of Ladbrokes said: “We couldn’t be happier for our history-making millionaire.

“She’s defied the odds in style more than making up for her near miss earlier in the summer and she’s now the first female to join the small club of those who won a million in their local betting shop.”

He added: “These jackpots are won once in a blue moon so the odds of two coming along in under a year are very long at 65,182,370/1.”

The 49′s is a popular lottery-style draw game which takes place twice a day.

HIV-Positive Man Ordered To Stop Virus By Seattle Court

SEATTLE:-- A Seattle judge has ordered an HIV-positive man to stop spreading the disease and to seek treatment after he infected eight people in four years.

The man, known only as "AO" in court documents, is required to show up for counselling and to protect future sexual partners.

Officials maintain they are not trying to criminalise sexual activity but to protect public health.

The man could face fines or jail time if he does not comply.

About 50,000 people in the US are newly infected with HIV every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). About 16% of the 1.1 million people living with the virus do not know they are infected.

AO tested positive for HIV in 2008 and spread the virus to at least eight people between 2010-14, according to court documents viewed by local news media.