Chiang Rai News

Thai and International Teams Continue Search for Missing Boys in Tham Luang Cave in Chiang Rai.

CHIANG RAI – Chiang Rai governor Narongsak Osotthanakorn said on Friday that, officials had been trying all possible means to help the missing 13 and the main job was to drain water as much and as quick as possible out of the cave to enable the Seal teams and foreign cave divers to be able to perform their duty continuously.

It’s the sixth day of the operation to rescue the 12 young footballers and their coach being trapped in Tham Luang cave in Chiang Rai. Authorities have been mobilizing all their resources to reach them with the help of experts and rescue teams from several countries but face tough challenges from rough terrains and heavy rains.

Governor Narongsak told the news briefing that police paratroopers from the Naresuan camp and other rescue workers were able to lower themselves about 40 metres into the cave through a shaft at a spot known as Tham Phra.

The rescue team, he added, reported that there was no flooding on the cave floor which was muddy and with water emerging from holes on the floor.

The Hawaii-based United States Indo-Pacific Command (PACOM) has sent a search and rescue team at the request of the Thai government to assist in the search.

The 30-member US search and rescue team reached Chiang Rai yesterday to share its experience in searches and bolster the efforts being made by Thai authorities.

US Special Operations Command Pacific Search and Rescue Team’s members survey in the cave area as they join the rescue operation for the missing football players and their coach at the Tham Luang cave.

Three rescue experts from England’s Derbyshire Cave Rescue Organisation arrived at Tham Luang on Wednesday. They brought a specialised radio system that can transmit messages for hundreds of metres through solid rock, as well as diving equipment.

The team in 2014 saved three divers who were trapped in a cave in England’s East Midlands. Their ordeal was similar to the Thai footballers as their exit from the cave was blocked by a flash flood.

Three German diving experts are also on the ground. China and the Philippines have also expressed readiness to send rescue units to the scene if requested by Thailand.

Two British cave-divers (2nd and 3rd-L) with Thai army soldiers and local rescue personnel are seen searching for new openings in the mountain of Khun Nam Nang Non Forest Park in Chiang Rai province

Meanwhile, Deputy national police chief Wirachai Songmetta led 132 police and rescue workers to survey Doi Pha Mee, which is north of the main entrance of the cave to search for possible points of access to the cave.

The change in the search route followed the advice of three British cave divers, who arrived on Wednesday evening to help in the operation.

Currently, the main rescue and search operations are under way to the west of the cave’s entrance, with the location inside the cave dubbed “Monk’s Series” as the destination.

It was believed the missing people might have opted to venture north of the cave’s entrance rather than head to the location in the West dubbed as “Pattaya Beach”.

Pol Gen Wirachai said residents told him there is a chamber lying in the north of the cave. It is as high as 60 metres and 20 metres wide. This location has become a new focal point of attention because a cave chamber may have a ceiling crevice.

The 132 policemen and rescue workers were divided into four search teams to survey the area separately.

Suttisak Soralump, a geotechnical engineer from Kasetsart University, said percussion drilling equipment will be used to bore holes of 10-12 centimetres wide through the hillside of Tham Luang cave so glowsticks and recording devices will be put in to explore the cave inside. It will take one day to drill a stretch of 100 metres to reach inside.

PTT Exploration and Production Plc (PTTEP) was using two drones to survey the exterior structure of the cave and the information will be used to determine where to drill. The drones with 30x optical zooms, fitted with heat sensor equipment can also take three-dimensional pictures.

Thanes Weerasiri, president of the Engineering Institute of Thailand, said plans are to survey ceiling crevices near Doi Pha Mee. People who previously explored the cave inside said there was a steep slope leading up to the ceiling. Drones were being deployed to explore to see how wide the crevices were and whether they could be enlarged, Mr Thanes said.

He also said efforts will be made to drill diagonally into the left side of Tham Luang cave near so-called Pattaya Beach, a dry ground chamber where the missing people might have been waiting for help.

But before the drilling gets under way, electromagnetic waves will be used to examine the rock structures, he said.

Persistent rain overnight raised water levels inside Tham Luang cave and rescuers were forced to pause their search for 12 boys and their football coach. The five-hour storm from Wednesday into the early hours Thursday pushed water levels in the cave higher.

Floodwaters inside Tham Luang cave, exacerbated by continued rain, are blocking attempts to reach the teen footballers and their coach.

Authorities said the 10-kilometre-long cave in Tham Luang cave had four chambers and floodwater had almost reached the main entrance of the cave early Thursday. Consequently, rescuers had to remove their equipment from the cave and wait for the flood level to subside. Local weathermen expected the rain would stop late in the morning.

Outside the cave, 132 police officers were deployed with sniffer dogs trying to find other openings into the cave. Thirty-two US specialists had arrived at the cave from Hawaii and were considering boring into the cave to hopefully save the missing people.

“Divers are ready for another operation once the water level goes down,” a Royal Thai Navy Seal posted in a Facebook message.

The boys, aged 11-16, are members of a local football team nicknamed the “Wild Boars”. They and their 26-year-old coach entered the cave in Mae Sai district, Chiang Rai after football practice on Saturday. The mother of one of the players raised the alarm when her son did not return home. Bicycles, shoes and backpacks belonging to the footballers were found near the cave entrance.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha will visit the rescue site in a show of moral support for the 13 people trapped in the flooded cave, their families and rescuers.

Meanwhile, China’s embassy has announced that they are sending a team of six rescue experts to Chiang Rai to help find the still-missing 12 young footballers and their coach, according to a press statement from that country’s embassy in Bangkok.

The team is expected to arrive at Chiang Mai International Airport at about 3pm on Friday before travelling to Chiang Rai. They will be bringing high technology equipment, including an underwater robot and a three-dimension spectrometer.

The team has experience in rescuing people trapped from caves in Myanmar and Nepal.

Chiang Rai News

Chiang Rai Man Kills Woman’s Infant Daughter When She Refuses His Sexual Advances

Police in Wiang Kaen District of Chiang Rai Province have arrested a 50 year old man after the threatened to rape a 20 year-old woman and the proceeded to murder her 2 and half month old baby.

Police with doctors from Wiang Kaen Hospital and the Chao Luang Wiang Kaen Welfare Association were summoned to the scene of the incident to a 2-story cement house, Village No. 2, Tha Kham Subdistrict, Wiang Kaen District of Chiang Rai

On arrival they found Ms. Chanikarn, age 20, in a state of distress crying uncontrollably beside her 2 and a half month baby girl (Linlada) that was dead on the floor.

After calming Ms. Chanikarn, the child’s mother, said that at approximately 2:30 p.m she was out to collect diapers that had been dried in front of the house, while her 2 and a half month old daughter was sleep on the ground floor of the house.

She said she was suddenly approached by a Mr. Lee, about 40 years old, who lived on the opposite side of the road. He came towards her and grabbed her arm and threatened her saying if she didn’t sleeping with him he will go and kill his daughter.

Miss Chanikan refused and ran away, then Mr. Lee then walked into the house and grabbed Ms. Linlada’s leg, smashing the child’s head against the cement floor of the house. The infant died immediately.

Mr. Lee then just walked away and returned to his own home, leaving Miss Chanikan and her dead baby.

When police went to Mr. Lee’s home he immediately confessed killing the infant and was taken to Wiang Kaen Police Station for further questioning. Under caution he told police that he was sexually attracted to Miss Chanikan‘s and when her husband leave for work he took the opportunity to approach her.

He said when he saw her husband leave he crossed that road and found Miss Chanikan in the yard alone, he then threatened her to sleep with him, saying he would kill her child if she didn’t have sex with him. However when she refused he flew into a fit of rage walked into her home and murdered he baby. He said he was out of control with rage.

After killing the infant he walk across the street to his home and waited for the police to arrive. The police have charged him with premeditated murder and attempted rape. He is being held without bail at the local remand center.

Meanwhile, Miss Chanikan and her family were preparing a religious burial ceremony for the child.

Other Chiang Rai News:

Machete Wielding Man Shot an Killed by Police in Chiang Rai

https://www.chiangraitimes.com/chiangrai-news/machete-wielding-man-shot-an-killed-by-police-in-chiang-rai/

Chiang Rai News

Police in Chiang Rai Launch Crackdown on Cyber Criminals in Golden Triangle

CHIANG RAI: Prime Minister Settha Thavisin has authorized the establishment of an emergency cyber center operated by the Royal Thai Police to combat transnational crimes committed by call center gangs along the Thai border in Chiang Rai province.

On July 19, Prime Minister Settha Thavisin directed the Center to combat information technology crimes. The Royal Thai Police (Royal Thai Police) will crack down on call center gangs in Myanmar, Laos, and along the border.

His directive comes as call center gangs ratchet up their scams to defraud people of their money, causing concern among Thais and jeopardizing the country’s economic and social stability.

Pol. Gen. Kittirat Panphet, Deputy Commander and Director of the Police Crime Suppression Division, Assigned Pol. Lt. Gen. Thatchai Pitanilabut, Assistant Commander-in-Chief of the Police/Deputy Director of the Police Crime Suppression Division, has launched the operation ‘Bombing the Thieves’ Bridge’ in collaboration with the CAT Office, G., mobile phone network operators AIS DTAC TRUE NT, and local security agencies to cut the mobile phone signal and WiFi internet that criminals illegally use to deceive Thai citizens.

Pol. Gen. Kittirat Panphet, Deputy Commander and Director of the Police Crime Suppression Division

Pol. Lt. Gen. Thatchai stated that they will begin pressing the first action of the ‘Explosion of Thieves’ Bridge’ in Chiang Rai Province toward the thieves’ base of operations in the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone.

The territory surrounding King Roman in Laos. King Roman is now a full-service entertainment destination with an airport that welcomes travelers from Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar, he explained.

According to Pol. Lt. Gen. Thatchai, this operation will have no influence on honest people along the Thai border, and it will only target cyber criminals.

They will also increase the arrest and prosecution of unlawful service towers, such as SIM booths, which allow gangs register SIM cards to swindle the people. Dealing with criminal organizations of foreigners and Thais who band together to deceive and damage Thais.

Pol. Gen. Kittirat Panphet, Deputy Commander and Director of the Police Crime Suppression Division

The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) suspended more than three million SIM cards on July 16 because the holders had not verified their identities with their mobile phone operators by the deadline, in accordance with the NBTC’s measures to combat alleged fraudsters’ mule accounts.

The names of the holders of 80 million mobile phone numbers used for mobile banking transactions did not match the names associated with the mobile banking accounts.

The NBTC would require mobile phone companies to authenticate SIM card holders and the names of their mobile banking accounts. The verification procedure is expected to be completed by the end of September this year.

In addition, the NBTC and Royal Thai Police have collaborated to combat illegal telecom towers throughout the country’s borders, disconnecting signals at 465 places, altering antenna direction at 470 towers, and dismantling antennas at 179 locations.

They are certain that the move will disrupt contact center gangs and other types of technology-based crime.

Other Chiang Rai News:

Machete Wielding Man Shot an Killed by Police in Chiang Rai

https://www.chiangraitimes.com/chiangrai-news/machete-wielding-man-shot-an-killed-by-police-in-chiang-rai/

Chiang Rai News

Machete Wielding Man Shot an Killed by Police in Chiang Rai

Police in Mae Chan, Chiang Rai, shot and killed a 28-year-old man who allegedly attacked a police officer with a machete. The officer was slashed in the right leg with the machete.

According to police, the culprit, known only as Mr. Toon, had been harassing local villagers in Mae Chan district, Chiang Rai, threatening them with a knife and using violet insults.

The village headman arrived on the scene to try to calm Mr. Toon, but he was shouting hysterically and taking swipes at him with the machete, so he contacted the police.

When the responding officer arrived at the site about 9 p.m., he attempted to calm the man, but he instead assaulted the officer, slashing his right leg with the machete. In self-defense, the cop had to fire his gun at Mr. Toon, striking him in the chest.

Mr. Toon and the policeman were taken to Mae Chan Hospital, where Mr. Toon died of a gunshot wound. Pol Sgt. Sutthikiat Phanomphraisakul was released from the hospital after receiving numerous stitches for his injuries.

Local police received a tip around 9.30 p.m. yesterday that a guy was causing mayhem in the village. When authorities arrived, they discovered 28-year-old Toon strolling along a public road, holding a large knife and threatening people. Mae Chan district officials attempted to contain the incident.

During a search of Mr. Toon’s home, authorities discovered methamphetamine consumption equipment. Locals told authorities that the man was addicted to Yaba (Methamphetamine) and an alcoholic.

The authorities are conducting an inquiry to determine Toon’s motivations and whether any underlying issues contributed to his violent outburst.