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Thailand braces for crisis as trials loom

political movement have been sacked by court rulings. After 15 years abroad, Thaksin returned to Thailand in August 2023. He was immediately ordered to serve an eight-year jail term for graft and abuse of power charges, but was taken to hospital on health grounds

Its ruling coalition was slashed to a tiny majority by the departure last week of the Bhumjaithai party in a row over a leaked phone call between the prime minister and former Cambodian leader Hun Sen. In the audio of the call about the border dispute,

The prevailing political instability and rising economic hardships are pushing farmers in remote mountainous regions to cultivate poppies. Home Affairs Minister Lt-Gen Tun Tun Naung said: “Growing poppy and heroin production were a major issue for Myanmar in the past. Now, the challenges are synthetic drug production, trafficking and trading. “Also, the area planted with poppies has risen again in the areas controlled by armed groups.” The Global New Light of Myanmar reported that the country is working to introduce alternative crops, such as coffee and tea, along with livestock projects, to replace poppy cultivation. During the 2024-25 poppy BANGKOK: Controversial ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra (pic) goes on trial for lese-majeste next week with the kingdom teetering on the brink of political chaos, as his daughter faces being sacked as prime minister and activists threaten mass protests. Southeast Asia’s second-biggest economy looks set for a new round of the turmoil that has periodically gripped it over the last two decades as conservative forces renew their long-running tussle with the Shinawatra dynasty. The coming weeks will see court hearings that could terminate Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s brief political career and send her 75-year-old billionaire father to jail. Thaksin goes on trial from Tuesday accused of insulting the monarchy, which under Thailand’s strict royal defamation laws could bring a maximum 15-year jail sentence. The allegations stem from an interview he gave in 2015 to a South Korean newspaper, with the trial set to last three weeks. A verdict is not expected for at least a month after that. The lese-majeste laws shield King Maha Vajiralongkorn and his close family from insult or abuse, but critics say the laws are abused to stifle legitimate comment and debate. The drama comes as the tourist-dependent kingdom seeks to reinvigorate its economy while heading off US President Donald Trump’s damaging threatened trade tariffs. Thailand is also grappling with a festering border row with Cambodia. Paetongtarn’s government is seen as hanging by a thread. o Paetongtarn’s govt hangs by thread

and later pardoned by the king. That sequence of events has prompted a separate judicial probe into whether he got special treatment, and Thaksin’s regular public appearances seem to have riled his old foes. “His enemies never disappear, they are still there, while new enemies have emerged and friends become enemies,” said Paradorn Pattanatabut, a former secretary general of the National Security Council. In a country which has seen a dozen coups since the end of absolute monarchy in 1932, the latest crisis has sparked speculation about another possible military intervention to oust Paetongtarn. Tub-thumping posts on military affiliated Facebook pages voicing vehement support for the army after Paetongtarn’s leaked call have added fuel to the fire. But a security source said a conventional tanks-in-the-street coup was both difficult and unnecessary, given the potential to stage a “silent coup” through the courts or other bodies such as the election commission. Wanwichit Boonprong from Rangsit University agreed, saying this kind of “stealth authoritarianism” was more effective. To add further spice to the mix, on Saturday a group of political activists involved in huge demonstrations that helped sink previous governments has pledged to hold a major rally calling for Paetongtarn to quit. – AFP easily through border regions. “As most drugs are trafficked to other countries through border regions, Myanmar faces challenges in preventing and suppressing trafficking,” he said. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) 2023 opium survey in Myanmar revealed the grave problem of the opium economy, fuelled by conflict and rural poverty. According to UNODC, on average, farmers could easily earn US$280 (RM1,184) per kilogramme of opium in 2022, even as supply was abundant. The survey stated: “The attractiveness of opium as a crop and commodity, and strong expanding demand, as the Golden Triangle opium and heroin trade appears to be reconnecting to the global market. Farmers earned more than twice as much from opium as in the previous year (2022).” – Bernama

Paetongtarn makes disparaging reference to a Thai army commander and addresses Hun Sen as “uncle”. Critics slammed the 38-year-old for insulting the military, a powerful force in Thai politics, and for being too deferential, calling for her to quit. She apologised last week and managed to shore up her coalition, but now a group of conservative senators has submitted a petition to the Constitutional Court calling for her to be sacked. The court may decide on Tuesday whether to accept the case, but its president Nakharin Mektrairat told reporters this week that it would be up to the nine judges to decide the timeframe. If the court accepts the case, it may suspend her from office while it considers it, with a ruling expected to take several months. Paetongtarn’s case and her father’s trial are the latest round in a bitter 25-year arm wrestle between Thailand’s traditional conservative, pro-military, pro-royalist elite and parties linked to Thaksin. Thaksin was twice elected prime minister in the early 2000s and is still loved by many of the rural voters whose lives were changed by his policies. But the establishment has long despised him as corrupt, nepotistic and a threat to the kingdom’s long-established social order. Thaksin was ousted in a coup in 2006, his sister Yingluck Shinawatra suffered the same fate in 2014 and other prime ministers from their In conjunction with the 2025 International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on Thursday, Myanmar authorities destroyed 66 types of drugs and precursor chemicals, including heroin, opium, methamphetamine, cannabis and ketamine worth US$297 million (RM1.3 billion) in Yangon, Mandalay, Taunggyi and Sagaing. Tun also spoke of the monumental task his government faces in eradicating the social scourge. The complex nexus of production and distribution of narcotics, supported by cross-border networks, makes it difficult to contain the illicit flow of drugs. “Although precursor chemicals and related accessories used in drug production cannot be produced in Myanmar, they can enter Myanmar

REVERENTIAL CARE ... Workers changing the cover of the Kaaba , known as Kiswa , at the grand mosque in Mecca on Wednesday. – REUTERSPIC

AI chip fraud case adjourned to Aug 22

SINGAPORE: The case against three men linked by media to the illegal transfer of Nvidia’s AI chips from Singapore to Chinese artificial intelligence firm DeepSeek has been adjourned until Aug 22, a court ruled yesterday. At a hearing on Friday, the prosecution said police would need more time to review new documents and seek responses from overseas parties in the investigations into the three men, Singaporeans Aaron Woon Guo Jie, 41, and Alan Wei Zhaolun, 49, as well as the Chinese national Li Ming, 51. They were earlier charged with committing fraud by making false representations to unnamed server suppliers about the end users of goods bought in 2023 and 2024. The United States banned the export of high-end chips from Nvidia to China in 2022 amid concerns that they could be used for military purposes. A senior US official said AI firm DeepSeek is aiding China’s military and intelligence operations, Reuters reported on Monday. Home Minister K. Shanmugam

said in March authorities had ascertained that servers involved in the fraud case may contain Nvidia chips, and that they had investigated the case independently after an anonymous tip-off. The servers were supplied by Dell Technologies and Super Micro Computer to Singapore-based companies before they were sent on to Malaysia, although it was not clear if Malaysia was the final destination for the servers, he said. The Singapore case is part of a broader police investigation into 22 individuals and companies suspected of false representation, amid concerns that nations like Singapore have been involved in organised AI chip smuggling. In 2024, Singapore was Nvidia’s second-biggest market after the United States, accounting for 18% of its total revenue in its latest fiscal year, a February filing by the chipmaker shows. However, actual shipments to the Asian trading hub contributed less than 2% of total revenue, as customers use it as a centre for invoicing sales to other countries. – Reuters

Myanmar battles to convert poppy farms PHNOM PENH: Myanmar’s efforts to eliminate poppy cultivation and combat drug trafficking has been hindered by armed conflict. growing season, security forces destroyed nearly 1,900ha of poppy farms.