Regional News

Malaysian Airline Boeing 777 Carrying 239 People Missing, Oil Slicks Spotted by Vietnam Airforce

The airline said 227 passengers, including two infants, and 12 crew members were on-board, including 153 Chinese nationals, 38 Malaysians, 12 Indonesians,four Americans and 2 Canadians

KUALA LUMPUR – Vietnamese air force planes have spotted two large oil slicks that officials believe are from a Malaysia Airlines flight that suddenly vanished from air traffic control screens and was presumed to have crashed early Saturday.

Search and rescue vessels and planes from Southeast Asia have been scouring the waters of the South China Sea in search of the Boeing 777 carrying 239 people, including three Americans.

A Vietnamese government statement says the slicks were spotted off the southern tip of the country and were consistent with the kinds that would be left by fuel from a crashed jet, according to AP.

The airline said the flight had gone missing in the early hours of Saturday as it flew from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, without sending a distress signal.

Ships and aircraft from Malaysia and Vietnam were searching across a 4,300 square mile area, officials said, with help from Singaporean authorities.

The Philippines sent air force planes and navy patrol ships, and China dispatched two rescue ships to assist in the search, according to officials and state media. Vietnamese fishermen have also been put on alert.

Flight MH370 lost contact with Malaysia air traffic control at 2:40 a.m. Saturday (1:40 p.m. EST Friday), less than an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur, and as it was still climbing. It vanished on the borders of the territorial waters of Malaysia and Vietnam, where the Gulf of Thailand meets the South China Sea. It had been due to land at Beijing at 6:30 a.m. (5:30 p.m. EST Friday).

On board were 227 passengers and 12 crew, from 14 countries. They included 154 citizens of China or Taiwan, including one infant, and 38 Malaysians. The three Americans on board also included one infant.

In Beijing, relatives and friends of those on board were taken by minibus from the airport to a hotel in the city to wait for news.

Grief was mixed with anger at the lack of information, with Malaysia Airlines insisting it was still investigating the incident and not releasing the passenger manifest. Earlier it had cited that the plane might have landed in Vietnam, although this was later denied.

“I haven’t even met a single person from Malaysia Airlines, just Chinese volunteers,” a 30-year old man who had come to meet his cousin told a throng of reporters. “I just need to confirm one thing: they told me it landed, does that mean a crash? Because I heard a crash from the news, and it drives me crazy.”

A little later, a small group of relatives left the hotel.

“Let us out, let us out,” one man shouted as he left. “We have been here for more than three hours. They are keeping 200 family members in a room and only giving us information released at 10:30 a.m. This is not fair. They didn’t even give us the full list of passengers on the plane, so we are not staying any more.”

Relatives of a 34-year-old migrant worker, returning home from Singapore, rushed to the airport by train as soon as they heard his plane was missing. His wife wept as she waited for news. “We don’t know what to think,” the man’s brother said. “The only thing left for us is waiting.”

Later, the man’s wife said she was still clinging to hope that he had not boarded the plane. “If they don’t confirm the manifest, that still leaves me with a slight hope he is still alive,” she said.

Malaysian search and rescue vessels reached the area around 4:30 p.m. on Saturday afternoon but found no sign of wreckage, a Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency official told the Reuters news agency.

The plane’s sudden disappearance, without calling for help, brought back memories of an Air France flight that disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris on June 1, 2009.

While some wreckage and bodies were found in subsequent weeks, it took nearly two years for the main wreckage and the plane’s black box flight recorders to be recovered.

Malaysia Airlines said in a statement that its focus was on working with emergency responders and authorities. “Our thoughts and prayers are with all affected passengers and crew and their family members,” it said. Meanwhile, Malaysian authorities denied a Vietnamese report that the plane had definitely crashed into the sea.

“We are doing everything in our power to locate the plane. We are doing everything we can to ensure every possible angle has been addressed,” Transport Minister Hishamuddin Hussein told reporters near the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, according to Reuters. “We are looking for accurate information from the Malaysian military. They are waiting for information from the Vietnamese side.”

There were no reports of bad weather in the area. Asked whether terrorism was suspected, Hussein said authorities “had no information but were looking at all possibilities.”

The South China Sea is a tense region of competing territorial claims among a number of countries, but the plane disappeared well away from the disputed waters, and countries in the region appeared to put aside their differences in their search for the plane.

“In times of emergencies like this, we have to show unity of efforts that transcends boundaries and issues,” said Lt. Gen. Roy Deveraturda, commander of the Philippine military’s Western Command, according to the Associated Press.

In Beijing, authorities conferred with the ambassadors of Malaysia and Vietnam to coordinate search and rescue efforts.

“We are extremely worried,” China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters in Beijing, according to state media. “The news is very disturbing. We hope everyone is safe.”

The Boeing 777-200ER last had contact with air traffic controllers 120 nautical miles off the east coast of the Malaysian town of Kota Bharu, Malaysian Airlines said in a statement. The deputy chief of staff of Vietnam’s army, Lt. Gen. Vo Van Tuan said the plane’s radar signal had vanished “one minute before it entered Vietnam’s air traffic control,” in a statement carried by the Associated Press.

Col. Dou Kai of Vietnam’s Navy was reported by Chinese state media as having said the plane had crashed into the sea at the junction of the territorial waters of Malaysia and Vietnam. But Navy Admiral Ngo Van Phat told Reuters only that the plane “could have” crashed in Malaysian waters, 150 miles off the coast of Vietnam’s Tho Cuo island.

While Malaysian Airlines earlier suggested the plane could have landed in Vietnam, Boeing China President Marc Allen said on his Sina Weibo account that reports that the plane had been found in Southeast Asia were “in error.”

“The search continues. Our deepest concerns remain with the families of those on board,” he wrote.

If the plane is found to have crashed, it would mark the second fatal accident involving a 777 since it was introduced into service in 1995. In July 2013, an Asiana Airlines Boeing 777-200ER crash-landed in San Francisco, killing three passengers and injuring more than 180.

The United States could have a role in any investigation as the plane was built there, according to Kelly Nantel , a spokeswoman for the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board. “We won’t know who would lead the investigation until the location is identified,” she told the Associated Press.

Boeing said it was assembling a team to help with the investigation. “It’s too early to make any speculation on the causes of the accident,” said Boeing China spokesman Wang Yukui.

Chinese state media reported that the plane, a codeshare with China Southern Airlines, was nearly 12 years old. But Boeing’s Wang said there was no link between the safety of an airplane and its service life.

“Each aircraft is required to meet airworthiness standards before they come into service. Even for the old aircraft, they will need periodic evaluations to make sure they still meet the standards,” he said.

In February, Reuters reported that state-owned Malaysia Airlines was awaiting government approval to buy 100 new planes from Boeing and Airbus, to retire older, less fuel-efficient planes.

Although the airline recently reported its fourth straight quarterly loss, it had a good safety record. Its latest fatal accident came in 1995, when 34 people died in a crash near the Malaysian city of Tawau. In 1977, a domestic Malaysia Airlines flight crashed after being hijacked, killing 100 people.

Liu Liu, Gu Jinglu and Xu Jing contributed to this report.

Oil slick spotted in sea in search for missing Malaysian Plane

Regional News

Thai Immigration Police Detain Over 26,000 Illegal Migrant Workers

Thailand’s Immigration Police have detained approximately 26,000 illegal migrant workers from Laos, Myanmar, and Cambodia during an eight-day operation in Bangkok and surrounding regions, according to a Royal Thai Police spokesperson.

Mr Adisorn Keudmeuangkhon of the Bangkok-based Migrant Working Group said the drive was in response to an increasing number of concerns about an influx of illegal migrant labor.

“Some Thai people see that many illegal workers are competing for their job positions in the past few months,” he told me. “That’s why the ministry has to take tougher action.”

Civil strife in Myanmar and the recent implementation of a military conscription have driven thousands of Burmese into Thailand, while severe inflation and limited job opportunities in Laos have also encouraged an influx of workers from that country.

Between June 5 and 12, officials detained and checked 20,111 Myanmar laborers, 1,659 Laotian migrant workers, and 3,971 Cambodian workers, according to the Ministry of Labor.

It marked the start of a 120-day campaign to audit workplaces and arrest unlawful migrant workers, according to the government.

Migrant Workers to be Deported

According to Keudmeuangkhon, undocumented workers face fines ranging from 5,000 to 50,000 Thai baht (US $136 to $1,365), deportation, and a two-year prohibition on re-entering Thailand.

Authorities did not intend to file criminal charges, he claimed.

Authorities raided 1,774 workplaces, according to Moe Gyo, chairman of the Joint Action Committee on Burmese Affairs, which advocates for Myanmar labor rights.

He stated that since the military junta activated conscription, there has been an upsurge in the number of arrests of Myanmar citizens in Thailand who do not have a work permit identity card.

All men aged 18 to 35 and women aged 18 to 27 must serve in the military for at least two years. The first group of 5,000 conscripts summoned by Myanmar’s junta will start duty at the end of this month, military sources told AFP on Monday.

According to Keudmeuangkhon, the bulk of Lao migrant workers in Thailand work as fresh market shopkeepers, restaurant servers, and mall salespeople.

Most people visit Thailand as part of ASEAN’s visa-free policy for tourists, but they stay longer than the 30-day restriction once they find job.

“Employers like to hire Lao migrant workers in the service sector because they can speak fluent Thai,” he told me.

Immigration Police Detain Illegal Migrant Workers

The Thai Cabinet may approve an enhanced program for Thai employers to register their unauthorized foreign workers in July or August. Keudmeuangkhon explained.

Last month, the Thai Ministry of Labor’s Foreign Workers Administration office announced that 268,465 Lao migrant workers were officially working in Thailand.

Baykham Kattiya, Lao Minister of Labor, told Radio Free Asia earlier this month that there are 415,956 migrant workers in other nations, the majority of whom work in Thailand.

According to her, the Lao government believes that over 203,000 persons working outside of the nation lack proper work documents.

However, a Lao official familiar with the labor industry informed Radio Free Asia, a BenarNews-affiliated news station, on June 20 that the number of illegal Lao migrant workers in Thailand and abroad is likely significantly greater.

“They go to other countries as illegal migrant workers through different types of methods – as tourists or students,” said the politician. “Thus, it is hard for the immigration police to collect data on these people.”

Government Officials Responsible for Smuggling in Migrant Workers

Government Officials Responsible for Smuggling in Migrant Workers

News

High School Student Dies After Being Electrocuted By School Water Dispenser

14-year-old boy was electrocuted by a water dispenser: File Image

Thailand’s Office of Basic Education Commission has initiated an investigation into the electrocution of a 14-year-old student by a water dispenser in a high school. The event happened at noon on Friday, during the high school’s sports day. The victim was a Grade 8 student.

According to local media in Trang Province, the incident occurred when a teacher instructed the pupil to turn off a water dispenser amid a heavy rain.

According to a witness, the child collapsed while strolling with his friend near a water station. The friend claimed he attempted to assist but was also shocked by electricity.

According to reports, the friend then recovered, left the site, and requested assistance from teachers. A teacher ran to the scene and used a towel to pull the boy away by the ankle. He was taken to the hospital, but it was too late, they claimed.

The event sparked criticism from parents and netizens over school safety, as well as the slow response to aid the young youngster.

Mr. Chainarong Changrua, head of Trang-Krabi’s Secondary Educational Service Area Office, told local media on Sunday that forensic officers from Trang Provincial Police had visited the area. They discovered the blown breaker switch behind the water dispenser, he explained.

The breaker was burned out, thus the authorities assumed the disaster was caused by a short circuit that allowed energy to spill to a neighboring power pole. The student also appeared wet and was not wearing shoes when electrocuted.

According to the Office of Basic Education Commission, a probe team will complete its investigation this week.

The student’s father, Mr Pornchai Thepsuwan, 53, claimed he was saddened when he saw his son’s body. The boy (Wayu), was the youngest of two boys, he explained. He stated that following the tragedy, the school director and staff gave financial assistance to the families.

Mr Pornchai also said he would not seek charges against the institution because he believed it was an accident.

Electrical accidents in Thailand

Electrocution instances in Thailand have increased alarmingly in recent years. Many mishaps occur as a result of improper wiring and inadequate maintenance of electrical systems.

Public locations, such as schools and markets, frequently lack adequate safety precautions, putting individuals in danger. In rural areas, antiquated infrastructure exacerbates the situation, resulting in more frequent and serious events.

Although several high-profile cases have brought these challenges to light, genuine progress has been gradual. Furthermore, the rainy season heightens the likelihood of electrical accidents, as water and exposed wires do not mix well.

The government has made steps to strengthen safety standards, but enforcement is patchy. More education on electrical safety could help to reduce these accidents.

Unfortunately, better infrastructure and tougher rules may have prevented many of these incidents. The loss and injuries caused by electrocution are avoidable, emphasizing the need for immediate action.

Over 200 High School Students Facing Sedition Charges in Thailand

Over 200 High School Students Facing Sedition Charges in Thailand

News

Thailand’s Tourist Police Crackdown on Tourist Scammers in Pattaya

Tourist Police Pattaya: File Image

Thailand’s Tourist Police said it is collaborating with embassies from five countries to combat tourist scams and ten criminal gangs in Pattaya. The Tourist Police Bureau, convened a meeting on Thursday Pol Lt Gen Saksira Phuek-am told a press briefing.

Pol Lt Gen Saksira Phuek-am, the Tourist Police bureau commissioner said the participants included ambassadors from South Korea, Ukraine, Russia, India, and Switzerland.

He told the briefing the he had ordered a crackdown on tourist frauds, such as fraudulent or low-quality tour operators and unfair sales of goods and services. Stepped-up operations began on June 19 and will continue until June 25.

He stated that the agency was working with numerous organisations to increase tourists’ confidence in visiting Pattaya.

Gen Saksira spent time on the famed Walking Street speaking with officers on duty and assigned them to seek for members of ten criminal groups known to operate in Pattaya.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin will visit Chon Buri on Saturday to assess the tourism situation. He intends to visit the site of a future Formula One racecourse near Khao Phra Tamnak in Bang Lamung District.

Prime Minister Srettha recently met with Formula One organisers in Italy to examine the potential of including Thailand on the race schedule in the future.

On Sunday, the Prime Minister will pay a visit to Rayong’s U-tapao airport to discuss development on the airport’s land, with the goal of encouraging investment in the Eastern Economic Corridor.

Police Chief Reinstated

In other police news, Pol Gen Torsak Sukvimol has been reinstated as national police chief following the conclusion of an investigation into a highly publicised quarrel, according to Wissanu Krea-ngam, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin’s counsellor.

Mr Wissanu released the investigation’s findings on Thursday, after the prime minister formed a fact-finding committee chaired by Chatchai Promlert to investigate into the quarrel between Pol Gen Torsak and his deputy, Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn.

The four-month study revealed conflicts and disorder at all levels of the Royal Thai Police, but it was unclear whether these issues arose from a single cause or several causes, according to Mr Wissanu.

The findings revealed that both Pol Gen Torsak and Pol Gen Surachate were involved, with each team contributing to the tensions, he noted.

Mr Wissanu indicated that Pol Gen Surachate was reinstated as deputy national police head on 18 April following his relocation to the Prime Minister’s Office on 20 March. A disciplinary committee was formed to investigate Pol Gen Surachate, and he was ordered temporarily suspended from the police force.

Because there were no further difficulties to explore, it was decided to restore Pol Gen Torsak. He plans to retire on September 30.

On March 20, Mr Srettha abruptly transferred both top police officers to the Prime Minister’s Office in an effort to address the growing schism within the police service.

Kitrat Panphet, Deputy National Police Chief, was subsequently named Acting Police Chief. According to sources, Pol Gen Surachate could face money laundering charges related to online gaming networks.

Source: Bangkok Post