Visitors and tourists enjoy drinks and the view from a rooftop bar in central Bangkok on April 1, 2015. (Reuters Photo/Damir Sagolj)

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Bangkok. Twenty-six bodies exhumed at a mass grave near a suspected human trafficking camp in southern Thailand do not bear signs of violent death, police said on Sunday, following initial forensic examinations at the site.

Dozens of police and rescue volunteers trekked into the mountains on Saturday to a jungle camp in Songkhla province that authorities have linked to human trafficking and dug up 21 bodies.

Five bodies were retrieved on Friday from the camp, which is a few hundred meters from Thailand’s border with Malaysia, bringing the total to 26.

“From initial forensic investigation at the site there are no marks on the bones or breakages that would suggest a violent death,” Police Colonel Triwit Sriprapa, deputy commander of Songkhla Provincial Police, told Reuters.

“It is likely that they died from disease and malnutrition.”

The discovery of a camp hidden deep in the jungle in southern Thailand, a regional human trafficking hub, was a sharp reminder of the extent of human trafficking in the Southeast Asian country and comes as Thailand scrambles to improve its record in fighting the illegal trade.

Illegal migrants, many of them Rohingya Muslims from western Myanmar and Bangladesh, brave often perilous journeys by sea to escape religious and ethnic persecution and to seek jobs in Malaysia and Thailand.

Police are focusing their investigation on a human trafficking network linked to the camp, said Police Colonel Anuchon Chamat, deputy commander of Nakorn Si Thammarat Provincial Police.

“It is an ongoing investigation but we have reason to believe that one suspect arrested in Nakorn Si Thammarat and his associates was directly linked to this camp,” Anuchon said.

Three survivors were found near the camp, including two aged 14 and 17. Police do not expect to find further bodies at the site, Triwit said.

“A witness said 30-40 people were brought to the camp at a time. The camp could have held up to 200 people,” Triwit said.

The Thai government said on Saturday it was determined to rid the country of human trafficking. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha has acknowledged the complicity of some Thai authorities in smuggling people.

Last year, Thailand was downgraded to the US State Department’s lowest category — or Tier 3 — in its annual Trafficking in Persons Report, which assesses how governments around the world have performed in fighting human trafficking.

Reuters

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Nakhon Pathom, Thailand. Phra Buddha Issara is a monk with a mission. From his Buddhist temple near Bangkok he is calling for a radical overhaul of Thai Buddhism, fearing millions of dollars in temple donations and a rapidly modernizing nation are corrupting monks.

Surrounded by verdant green rice fields at Wat Or Noi temple, Issara said he wants better oversight of temple finances and to shake up the fossilized structure of Thai Buddhism.

“Buddhism in Thailand is a poisoned fruit. The highest level of the Buddhist religion has turned out to be the devious one,” he told Reuters in an interview.

Buddha Issara’s quest began last month when the Supreme Sangha Council (SSC), Thai Buddhism’s governing body, cleared the abbot of Dhammakaya temple over allegations by the military government’s National Reform Council (NRC) that he embezzled some 900 million baht ($28 million) in donations.

The Dhammakaya temple members include some of Thailand’s most powerful politicians and is regarded as the country’s richest Buddhist temple.

Abbot Phra Dhammachayo rejected the fraud charges and the council said that as he returned most of the money there was no misconduct. The NRC, which has not released details of the alleged fraud, is pushing for a probe into why the council cleared Dhammachayo and the ties between it and the temple.

The fraud allegation is just the latest in a series of scandals that have rocked Thailand’s Buddhist clergy. Other examples include a monk caught with 120,000 methamphetamine pills and another who was dismissed from his temple for investing $1.2 million on the stock market.

“The money and power swirling around some Thai temples and monks makes them immune to criticism,” said Sulak Sivaraksa, one of Thailand’s pre-eminent Buddhist scholars.

“This is why we need to reform the Sangha and start afresh,” Sivaraksa told Reuters.

The Supreme Council, a coterie of 20 elderly monks, has traditionally evaded public scrutiny due to its opaque workings and the reverence of millions of Buddhists.

And for years, reports of misbehaving monks were often dismissed as standalone cases rather than a product of an ossified institution beyond the reach of the law. But the latest fraud allegation has unleashed an avalanche of public criticism.

Many Thai Buddhists feel those elders are incapable of supervising the behavior of 300,000 monks in a rapidly modernizing nation where worldly temptations are everywhere and temples are flush with cash.

“The SSC governs but there is nobody that governs them,” said Issara, who is calling for a boycott of the Sangha.

Issara, who played a prominent role in protests last year that helped to overthrow the government of former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra, said Thais should no longer listen to decrees handed down by the council.

He wants the government to check the accounts of all temples and seize assets from those suspected of mishandling donations. He is also calling for the state to restructure the Sangha.

The National Office of Buddhism, which is in charge of promoting Buddhism in Thailand, said civilians should not interfere in the religious world.

“There are Buddhist governors to check whether they [temples and monks] have violated conduct,” Somchai Surachatri, the National Office of Buddhism’s spokesman, told Reuters.

Recently Buddhist monk Luang Pu Nenkham was stripped of his religious title. Nenkham gained notoriety in 2013 when a YouTube video showing him carrying a Louis Vuitton bag aboard a private jet went viral.

He is now on the run after millions of dollars in assets were uncovered in his name and Thai authorities issued an arrest warrant for him for having sex with a minor.

Reuters

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Bangkok. Thailand’s parliament voted overwhelmingly on Thursday in favour of a bill that restricts political demonstrations, something critics fear will be used to smother dissent after martial law is lifted.

The law will impose restrictions on the “time, place and manner” of demonstrations but it was not aimed at banning protests, said Colonel Winthai Suvaree, a spokesman for the junta which seized power last year.

“This law is not designed to prevent protests. It is aimed at giving order to public gatherings,” Winthai told Reuters.

The army declared martial law in May, days before it ousted an elected government in a coup.

Martial law remains in place despite calls for it to be lifted from tourism industry operators who fear it damages the country’s image. Martial law includes a ban on public gatherings of more than five people.

The coup followed months of street protests aimed at ousting former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

Critics say the law on restricting protests that sailed through its first reading on Thursday would help the junta to stifle dissent and maintain its largely unchallenged rule.

“This law will replace martial law and control political protests which is an infringement on people’s rights,” said Thanawut Wichaidit, a spokesman for the pro-Yingluck United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship activist group.

The bill must pass a second and third reading for it to come law, which looks likely given its support in the National Legislative Assembly whose members were picked by the military.

If the bill becomes law it would ban protests outside courts, parliament and the prime minister’s offices, known as Government House, Jate Siratharanont, a member of the assembly, told Reuters.

Police would have to be informed of a protest at least 24 hours in advance and gatherings between 6 p.m and 6 a.m would be banned unless protesters got permission, Jate said.

But authorities would need permission from the courts to disperse protests.

Matthew Smith, executive director of Fortify Rights, a Southeast Asia-based rights group, said it would be difficult forThailand to argue that the law was in the public interest.

“On the contrary, this appears to be a move that’s inconsistent with Thailand’s human rights obligations,” said Smith.

Reuters

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Bangkok. China and Thailand agreed on Friday to boost military ties over the next five years, from increasing intelligence sharing to fighting transnational crime, as the ruling junta seeks to counterbalance the country’s alliance with Washington.

The agreement came during a two-day visit by China’s Defence Minister Chang Wanquan to Bangkok, and as Thailand’s military government looks to cultivate Beijing’s support amid Western unease over a delayed return to democracy.

“China has agreed to help Thailand increase protection of its own country and advise on technology to increase Thailand’s national security,” Thai Defense Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan told reporters.

“China will not intervene in Thailand’s politics but will give political support and help maintain relationships at all levels. This is China’s policy.”

Under the junta, Thailand has stepped up engagement with China at a time when Beijing increases its influence in Southeast Asia with a raft of loans and aid for infrastructure.

At the same time, Washington has sought to show its renewed commitment to a strategic “pivot” toward Asia by boosting military ties and equipment sales across the region.

Prawit said Thailand and China agreed to increase joint military exercises, but did not give further details.

“We agreed to increase joint military exercises between Thailand’s air force and China’s air force and to increase overall military cooperation over the next three to five years,” he said.

Thailand’s army took control last May saying it needed to restore order after months of political unrest including street protests in Bangkok that killed nearly 30 people. The United States, a long-time ally of Thailand, expressed dismay at the coup and froze $4.7 million of security-related assistance and cancelled some security cooperation.

US-Thai relations deteriorated further last month when Bangkok accused Washington of meddling in its political affairs over the remarks by a visiting US envoy who criticized the junta.

The junta has said it will hold onto power for at least another year, with a general election planned for early 2016.

Despite the tensions, the US will hold its annual Cobra Gold combined military exercise with Thailand next week. The drill, however, has been scaled down in scope to humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

The drill, the Asia-Pacific’s largest annual multinational military exercise, also involves China.

Reuters

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