A chat with a police friend about young, part-time prostitutes turned into a nightmare for one mother after she found that one of the girls available for sex was her own daughter, who later revealed how she had been lured into taking drugs, blackmailed and coerced into the flesh trade.

The daughter, who is now 19, was a minor at the time she was victimised.

The trouble began after she tried ‘yaba’ – methamphetamine – at the encouragement of another woman, who had rescued her from the threat of a physical assault. Her drug-taking was recorded and used to blackmail her, her mother said.

“She was told if she did not agree to sell her body to senior officials, she would be prosecuted for drug offences,” said the mother, who asked to remain anonymous to protect her daughter’s identity.

Seeking justice for her daughter, she found out that several other girls had fallen into the same trap. She claimed that a procurement gang sends members to bully a target and threaten to attack her, then assigns another member to act as a saviour. When the targeted female trusts the fake saviour, she exposes herself to blackmail.

Read also: Man forces wife to prostitute herself for $16

Although these crimes have been taking place for years, the story, which seems at times like a sordid movie plot, is only now starting to be exposed to the public in Mae Hong Son.

The 43-year-old mother, who was formerly an informant for anti-narcotics police, has now sought protection from the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security in Bangkok out of concerns for her safety.

“After I lodged complaints with the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Division [ATPD], I noticed that someone had followed me and tapped my phone,” she said.

The mother then decided to speak to media in the hope they would be able to help bring attention to her daughter’s case and ensure the delivery of justice.

Boonyarit Nippawanich, chair of the Deputy District Chief Federations of Thailand, asked the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) yesterday to take over the case from police.

“Damaged parties are now worried that they may not get justice given that the accused include a policeman and several senior government officials,” he said. Boonyarit is also the deputy district chief of Mae Sariang in Mae Hong Son.

Read also: Myanmar mother sues son for calling her a ‘prostitute’

Word has also spread that the suspects have raised a large amount of money, which is meant to influence authorities to dismiss the case.

Deputy police spokesman Pol Colonel Krissana Pattanacharoen said any policeman who violated the law would not be spared.

An anonymous source said the ATPD team would go to Mae Hong Son soon with warrants to arrest many suspects.

Deputy National Police Commissioner Pol General Srivara Ransibrahmanakul confirmed that police were in the process of seeking an arrest warrant for one suspect and of gathering evidence to seek arrest warrants for other alleged accomplices too.

Tarit Pengdit, former head of the Department of Special Investigation (DSI), has been dismissed from state service for being unusually rich – and there is no way he can appeal against his punishment, senior government officials said yesterday.

The prime minister’s secretary-general Vilas Arunsri said yesterday he issued an order to dismiss Tarit on April 3 at the suggestion of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), which found former DSI chief had acted corruptly.

The NACC had informed the Prime Minister’s Secretariat, as Tarit’s direct supervising agency, that he was found to be “unusually wealthy”, after amassing assets of Bt346.6 million (S$14 million) without proper explanation while serving as DSI director-general, Vilas said.

Read also: Corruption cases at 32-year low

Vilas noted that Tarit had been moved through an order of the National Council for Peace and Order from the DSI to the Prime Minister’s Office, which is part of the PM’s Secretariat, on May 24, 2014.

Tarit was later appointed as an adviser attached to the PM’s Office on June 27, 2014. So, Vilas said, it was his authority as the PM’s secretary-general to decide whether to follow the NACC suggestion.

Cannot appeal, Wissanu says

Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said Tarit could not appeal against the move by the PM’s Secretariat as the disciplinary punishment was carried out in compliance with an NACC order, which is regarded as final.

If a dismissal comes from disciplinary action, the sacked official may appeal |to the Civil Service Commission’s |Merit System Protection Board, he explained.

Tarit told The Nation yesterday that he would fight his dismissal in line with the justice process, but said he did not want to discuss the matter further.

“I have learnt about the news, but I don’t want to give an interview now. What I can say is that I will fight this through the justice system,” he said.

Read also: Johor govt accepts resignation of official charged with corruption

Vilas explained in a statement yesterday that Tarit’s dismissal came after the PM’s Secretariat discussed the case with the NACC, the Civil Service Commission and the Council of State.

He said the three agencies affirmed that his office had authority to dismiss Tarit from government service.

The statement said Tarit had been found to have amassed unusual wealth while serving as head of the DSI, so the PM’s Secretariat was required by Article 80 (4) of the 1999 Corruption Prevention and Suppression Act to dismiss him from state service.

Meanwhile, the NACC also found that Tarit had transferred Bt100 million of his assets to close associates.

That information was disclosed |by NACC commissioner Preecha Lertkamolmart on Sunday following an investigation into the former DSI chief’s wealth.

Last month, the anti-graft agency voted unanimously to endorse the finding that Tarit had unlawfully amassed assets worth Bt346.6 million. It then froze Bt90 million of his assets.

Preecha said the agency would conduct a further investigation into the matter. If the former DSI chief could provide documents supporting the legitimacy of his assets, they would be returned to him, he said.

The man behind an alleged scam to cheat several lecturers and former lecturers of the Chulalongkorn University (CU) out of at least Bt1.4billion had just Bt5,000 in his bank accounts, an informed source disclosed on Monday.

The source said it was very likely that Assoc Prof Sawat Saengbangpla, who previously chaired the CU Savings Cooperative and allegedly lured more than 100 victims into investing in a scam, had put his assets in the name of others.

According to the source, Sawat does not live with his legally-married wife and their child.

Several lecturers were victims in an alleged scam by Sawat, police have said.

“There are more than 160 victims with estimated damages of over Bt1.4 billion,” Crime Suppression Division commander Pol Maj General Suthin Sappuang said yesterday.

“One of the victims has lost as much as Bt70 million,” he added.

Sawat is now on the run.

“We will try to get him,” Suthin said, adding that police were also in the process of gathering further evidence to determine whether Sawat had any accomplices.

Meanwhile, Justice Ministry permanent secretary Charnchao Chaiyanukij yesterday ordered the Department of Special Investigation to analyse pyramid schemes over the past decade and come up with measures to educate the public about such frauds.

“We have to raise people’s immunity against such scams,” he said.

Charnchao also urged people to study investment options well before putting money into any schemes.

BEIJING – Efforts to tackle water pollution in China remain uneven with some areas worsening in 2016, while heavy metals and other pollutants continued to accumulate in Chinese soil, the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) said.

In a yearly work report, Chen Jining, head of the MEP, told the National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, a top Chinese decision making body, that overall air, water and soil pollutants had improved in 2016, according to a post on the NPC website late on Monday.

However, “Improvements in water quality are uneven, some bodies for water are worsening,” Chen said, noting that checks on water quality in northern China’s Liao River and Songhua River found more poor quality sections than in 2015.

Agricultural land soil quality “does not allow for optimism and “the problem of soil pollution for industry, companies and nearby land is prominent,” Chen said.

MEP samples found that 36.3 per cent of heavy polluting industries’ land and the surrounding soil did not meet government standards, he added.

Chen urged reporters in March to focus on overall trends, which showed China was making rapid progress in its anti-pollution efforts, even though serious problems remained.

China says it is confident it can win its “war on pollution”after strengthening legislation, beefing up its monitoring capabilities and cracking down on hundreds of polluting firms, and says average air quality improved noticeably in 2016.

Chen also called in his NPC work report for more to be done in the fight against air, water, and soil pollution, saying that although efforts to manage the environment were moving forward, the job is becoming more complex and difficult as time goes on.

China detained 720 people and received 33,000 tip-offs on environmental violations in 2016 and issued fines worth 440 million yuan ($64 million), according to the report.

Air quality improved, Chen said, with 78.8 per cent of days being considered “good days”, up 2.1 percentage points from 2015.

But air quality in January and February of 2017 was markedly worse than a year earlier according to MEP data released in March.

At the time, high winter coal consumption combined with unfavourable weather conditions to create heavy smog build-ups throughout northern China, forcing dozens of cities in the region to issue “red alerts” designed to curb industrial activity and thin traffic.

As the HIV/AIDS epidemic begins to hit more young Chinese, the nation’s health and education authorities are installing vendor machines selling home HIV test kits on university campuses to help raise awareness and fight the disease.

To date, 10 Chinese universities in Sichuan, Yunnan, and Heilongjiang provinces, Beijing, and Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region have joined the initiative many call “progressive” in a country where sex largely remains a taboo subject and systematic sex education is still lacking.

“We cannot wait to take action, but it’s hard to do so, especially on university campuses. Otherwise we put the young students’ health at risk,” said Shen Jie, deputy director of the Chinese Association of STD and AIDS Prevention and Control, which led the initiative.

“More universities are talking with us to install such machines on campus as an alternative option for students seeking HIV testing, which should be normalised anyhow,” she added.

Read also: US lecturer jailed 28 months in S’pore for lying about HIV status, qualifications

Many students are reluctant to visit the HIV testing clinics run by the health authorities, even though a visit is free, she said. Privacy and fear of discrimination largely keep them away.

In recent years, China has seen a rapidly increasing HIV epidemic, particularly among young students aged 15 to 24, mostly via unprotected gay sex, said Wu Zunyou, head of the National Center for AIDS/STD Control and Prevention.

Over the weekend, a story made national news headlines that 106 university students tested positive for HIV in a single district in Yuelu, Changsha, capital of central Hunan province, in recent years, local public health institutions revealed. Most of those infected were gay men.

Read also: False HIV diagnosis shadows ex-convict in China

Nationwide, during the first nine months of last year, more than 2,300 students in this age range were detected with HIV, roughly four times greater than in 2010.

In the vendor machine projects, the home test kits are on sale on campuses alongside snacks and beverages, according to Liu Peng, who’s responsible for the association’s programme. “There is more privacy this way.”

The kit uses urine and costs 30 yuan (S$6.07) and one can check the result over the Internet after sending back the sample of urine to designated labs run by public health authorities. No ID information is required, he added.

“Roughly 100 samples were sent back from our campus during the first several months,” said Zhang Jihong, head of the health centre at Southwest Petroleum University in Chengdu, Sichuan province.

As a pioneer, the university first joined the initiative in June 2016. The two vending machines selling the kits are at the health centre and the stadium, both frequented by students.

“I never saw anyone buy the kit but I did see the kit packages in our dormitory toilets. And that somewhat serves as an alert to me that the disease is actually all around and we need self protection,” said a sophomore surnamed Du.

Shen Jie agreed. “The fact that more universities became willing to join us well demonstrates an ever-increasing public awareness of AIDS control,” she said.

The positive trend has been seen among the general public and with the authorities as well.

The country will promote HIV home testing among the people to detect as many sufferers as possible for early treatment, said Wu Zunyou.

The home test kits have become largely available now at e-commerce platforms and will be on sale at pharmacies soon, he added.

The Jakarta gubernatorial election may have demonstrated how frail the government’s coalition can become when its rivals play the sectarianism card hard.

Backed by all seven government coalition parties except the National Mandate Party (PAN), the incumbent Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama-Djarot Saiful Hidayat ticket lost to the rival Anies Baswedan-Sandiaga Uno ticket, only securing 42 per cent of about 7 million votes, according to quick count results.

On Saturday, three days after the heated Jakarta runoff, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo signaled that he might be mulling another Cabinet reshuffle.

He complained about the inability of several ministries to achieve targets, especially in regard to economic policies.

Read Also: Jakarta governor ‘Ahok’ concedes defeat in Jakarta election

“I always set targets for my ministers,” Jokowi said in a speech at the Economic Congregation Congress organised by the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) in Jakarta.

“I am ready to dismiss or replace aides and ministers if any targets are missed,” the President went on.

As an example he cited his flagship land reform programme, in which his government aims to issue 5 million land certificates this year, and gradually increase the target by 2 million every year until the end of his first term.

The President’s remarks have raised speculation over a possible third cabinet reshuffle.

Since taking office in 2014, Jokowi has made two Cabinet reshuffles: once in August 2015, in which six Cabinet members were reshuffled, and another in July 2016, which saw changes in 12 Cabinet positions.

Jokowi also made remarks about poor performances from some Cabinet members days before the previous reshuffles.

Read Also: Jakarta governor Ahok’s speech not blasphemous: Expert

Before the Jakarta runoff election, elites from the National Awakening Party (PKB) and United Development Party (PPP) expressed concern that they could lose their Cabinet positions.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, executive members from both parties told The Jakarta.

Post that high-ranking aides from Jokowi’s inner circle “had threatened” that PKB’s three ministerial posts and PPP’s one post could be in jeopardy if they refused to support Ahok and Djarot.

Analysts suggested that a reshuffle could be needed to consolidate electoral power ahead of the 2018 simultaneous regional elections and 2019 legislative and presidential elections.

The 2018 elections will be held in 171 provinces, regencies and cities, including the country’s three mostpopulous provinces: West Java, East Java and Central Java.

The combined population of the three provinces accounts for almost half of the national population.

However, political analyst Marcus Mietzner from the Australian National University said a cabinet reshuffle might have little impact on the presence of Islamic parties in Jokowi’s Cabinet.

According to him, Jokowi will need at least one “influential” Islamic party in his nominating coalition for 2019 to counter possible smear campaigns using religious and ethnic sentiments.

“He has no reason to remove either the PKB or PPP from the cabinet. That would drive them into the arms of Prabowo,” Mietzner told the Post, referring to Gerindra Party chairman Prabowo Subianto, Jokowi’s presidential contender in 2014 who has indicated that he may challenge Jokowi again in the 2019 race.

The PPP’s secretary-general, Arsul Sani, responded to the issue diplomatically.

“To reshuffle the cabinet is the President’s prerogative,” he said.

Eddy Suparno, PAN’s secretary general, said the party’s stance in the Jakarta election should not be linked to speculation about a Cabinet reshuffle.

“What happened in Jakarta does not reflect the nature of our relationship with other members of the [government] coalition,” Eddy said.

“There are still other regional elections before the 2019 elections that provide good opportunities for Islamic parties like us to collaborate with nationalist parties.”

SEOUL – A nuclear-powered US submarine made a port call in South Korea on Tuesday in a show of force amid concerns that North Korea may mark the foundation of its military with a missile launch or a nuclear test, defying US and Chinese pressure.

The port call by the USS Michigan came as a US aircraft carrier strike group steams for Korean waters and as the top nuclear envoys from South Korea, Japan, and the United States were to meet in Tokyo to discuss the North’s refusal to give up its nuclear programme.

Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary, Yoshide Suga, told a media briefing that China’s nuclear envoy, Wu Dawei, would also hold talks with Japanese Foreign Ministry officials on Tuesday.

A ministry source said Wu was likely to meet his Japanese nuclear counterpart on Wednesday.

Matching the flurry of diplomatic and military activity in North Asia, the State Department in Washington said on Monday US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson would chair a special ministerial meeting of the UN Security Council on North Korea on Friday.

Tillerson, along with Defence Secretary Jim Mattis, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and Joint Chiefs chairman General Joseph Dunford, would also hold a rare briefing for the entire US Senate on North Korea on Wednesday, Senate aides said.

On Monday, US President Donald Trump called for tougher new UN sanctions on Pyongyang, saying the North was a global threat and “a problem that we have to finally solve”.

“The status quo in North Korea is also unacceptable,” Trump told a meeting with the 15 UN Security Council ambassadors, including China and Russia, at the White House.

“The council must be prepared to impose additional and stronger sanctions on North Korean nuclear and ballistic missile programs.”

South Korean and US officials have feared for some time that a sixth North Korean nuclear test could be imminent.

Speculation has grown that such a test, or another long-range missile launch, could coincide with the 85th anniversary of the foundation of the North’s Korean People’s Army on Tuesday.

“SERIOUSLY MISREAD”

The official China Daily said on Tuesday it was time for Pyongyang and Washington to take a step back from harsh rhetoric and heed the voices of reason calling for a peaceful resolution. ”

Judging from their recent words and deeds, policymakers in Pyongyang have seriously misread the UN sanctions, which are aimed at its nuclear/missile provocations, not its system or leadership,” the newspaper said in an editorial.

“They are at once perilously overestimating their own strength and underestimating the hazards they are brewing for themselves,” it said.

In a phone conversation with Trump on Monday, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for all sides to exercise restraint.

Also read: North Korea says it’s ready to sink US aircraft carrier

Two Japanese destroyers conducted exercises on Monday with the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier strike group that is headed for waters off the Korean peninsula, sent by Trump as a warning to the North.

The South Korean military is also planning to conduct joint drills with the carrier group.

As those drills continued, the USS Michigan arrived in the South Korean port of Busan on Tuesday, the US Navy said. The nuclear-powered submarine is built to carry and launch ballistic missiles and Tomahawk cruise missiles.

As well as his military show of force, Trump has also sought to pressure China to do more to rein in its nuclear-armed neighbour.

China, North Korea’s sole major ally, has in turn been angered by Pyongyang’s belligerence, as well as its nuclear and missile programmes.

Regardless, North Korea has carried out nuclear and missile tests in defiance of successive rounds of United Nations sanctions.

Also read: Trump: UN should consider ‘stronger sanctions’ on N. Korea

Angered by the approach of the carrier group, which could arrive within days, North Korea said the deployment of the USS Carl Vinson was “an extremely dangerous act by those who plan a nuclear war to invade”.

“The United States should not run amok and should consider carefully any catastrophic consequence from its foolish military provocative act,” Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party, said in a commentary.