Latest news with #KittharathPunpetch
Bangkok Post
04-08-2025
- Politics
- Bangkok Post
Police form fact-finding panel to probe PGH medics accused of helping Thaksin
National police chief Pol Gen Kittharath Punpetch has appointed a fact-finding committee to investigate alleged misconduct involving two senior officers -- Police Deputy Commissioner Pol Lt Gen Sophonrat Singhajaru, a former Police General Hospital (PGH) chief physician, and current chief physician Pol Lt Gen Taweesilp Wechawitarn. Both have had their medical licences suspended following a resolution by the Medical Council of Thailand (MCT) on May 8. The two officers have been accused of helping former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra receive privileged treatment on the PGH's 14th floor. Pol Lt Gen Sophonrat's and Pol Lt Gen Taweesilp's medical licences will be suspended for three months and six months, respectively, starting Oct 1, for allegedly providing false or misleading medical documents or information regarding Thaksin's health to facilitate his extended hospital stay at the PGH. According to Pol Gen Kittharath, a thorough and careful disciplinary investigation is required due to public interest in the matter and the complexity of the case, hence the formation of the fact-finding committee under Sections 117 and 199 of the Royal Thai Police Act BE 2565. Key committee members include deputy national inspector general Pol Lt Gen Thanapol Srisopha, who chairs the committee; national inspector general Pol Lt Gen Kritsada Kanchana-alongkorn; Pol Maj Gen Jenkamon Kamnual, commander of the Office of the Inspector General's Inspection Division 8; and Pol Maj Gen Songpol Boribanprasert, commander of the Support Division. The committee also includes 14 other police officers. It is instructed to complete the investigation into the case according to the Office of Police Commission regulation on fact-finding investigations, BE 2556. Upon completion, the investigation file is to be submitted to the police chief for further proceedings. Should the committee uncover evidence of other violations beyond those stated in the current order, or if the investigation implicates other police officers, the committee's chairman must report such findings, said Pol Gen Kittharath. It was also reported on Monday that former Democrat Party list MP Watchara Petchthong will appear before the committee on Tuesday at 1pm to provide testimony about the case as a witness.
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Thailand Deports Dozens of Uyghurs to China, Sparking Outcry
(Bloomberg) -- Thailand deported 40 Uyghur asylum seekers to China on Thursday, drawing condemnation from international rights groups that denounced the move as a violation of international law. Cuts to Section 8 Housing Assistance Loom Amid HUD Uncertainty The Trump Administration Takes Aim at Transportation Research Shelters Await Billions in Federal Money for Homelessness Providers NYC's Congestion Pricing Pulls In $48.6 Million in First Month New York's Congestion Pricing Plan Faces Another Legal Showdown Thai police chief, Kittharath Punpetch, told reporters the Uyghurs arrived in Xinjiang after they were first detained in the Southeast Asian nation a decade ago. The deportation, he said, came at the request of China, which has been repeatedly accused by the US of abuses against the ethnic group. Ruvendrini Menikdiwela of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said the move was a 'clear violation of the principle of non-refoulement and the Royal Thai Government's obligations under international law.' Beijing has come under international pressure for subjecting Uyghurs, a Muslim minority, to forced labor in detention centers and transfer programs that remove them from their homes in rural areas to work in factories in urban areas. At the same time, Thailand as a longstanding treaty ally of the US has sought to deepen ties with China, a key source of investment, as Bangkok seeks to stimulate its lackluster economy. 'We condemn in the strongest possible terms Thailand's forced return of at least 40 Uyghurs to China, where they lack due process rights and where Uyghurs have faced persecution, forced labor, and torture,' Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement. 'As Thailand's longstanding ally, we are alarmed by this action.' Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said at a regular news conference in Beijing on Thursday that the Uyghurs were repatriated as part of an effort 'to combat illegal immigration and other cross-border crimes.' The two nations were already ramping up enforcement collaboration in other areas. Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged earlier this month to back Thailand's efforts to suppress online scam operations impacting cross-border tourism. Phil Robertson, director of Asia Human Rights and Labour Advocates, said Thailand acted now because officials there assessed the international community, especially the US, is distracted with other issues and conflicts. 'The Thais are calculating that with all the chaos around the world and inside the US foreign policy establishment, they can get away with just a slap on the wrist for this massive rights violation,' he said. Kittharath said the group sent back on Thursday was the last of hundreds of Uyghurs who fled China in 2014 and were detained by the country's then-military government. Thailand sent 109 Uyghurs back to China in the following year and resettled another group in Turkey. 'The government considered the humanitarian and human rights principles upon receiving the request in writing from China, and decided to send the Uyghur people back,' Kittharath told reporters. 'We had never received this level of assurance from China.' --With assistance from Colum Murphy and Jon Herskovitz. (Updates with remarks from Secretary Rubio and human rights activist.) Trump's SALT Tax Promise Hinges on an Obscure Loophole Warner Bros. Movie Heads Are Burning Cash, and Their Boss Is Losing Patience Walmart Wants to Be Something for Everyone in a Divided America China Learned to Embrace What the US Forgot: The Virtues of Creative Destruction OXO Fought Back Against the Black Spatula Panic. People Defected Anyway ©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
Bloomberg
27-02-2025
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Thailand Deports Dozens of Uyghurs to China, Sparking Outcry
Thailand deported 40 Uyghur asylum seekers to China on Thursday, drawing condemnation from international rights groups that denounced the move as a violation of international law. Thai police chief, Kittharath Punpetch, told reporters that the Uyghurs arrived in Xinjiang after they were first detained in the Southeast Asian nation a decade ago. The deportation, he said, came at the request of China, which has been repeatedly accused by the US of abuses against the ethnic group.
