Friday, December 8, 2017

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine


Status Of Irrawaddy Dolphin Raised To ‘Endangered’

Posted: 08 Dec 2017 06:03 AM PST

YANGON—The status of the Irrawaddy dolphin has been raised from "vulnerable" to "endangered" as its numbers have fallen by half over the past 60 years due to human activities, according to the latest Red List of threatened species produced by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Despite the change in its status, the population of this species from the Irrawaddy River, one of only three habitats in the world where riverine Irrawaddy dolphins are found, has risen slightly over the last three years.

There are currently at least 69 dolphins living in the river between Bhamo and Mandalay cities, in addition to populations of approximately 80-100 left in stretches of the Mekong River in Cambodia and Laos, and in Mahakham in Indonesia, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in Myanmar.

Even though no wide-ranging survey has been conducted for this species globally, nor is there a synoptic estimate of the total number of Irrawaddy dolphins from local or regional surveys, the IUCN estimates that there is an abundant population of about 5,800 of the animals in Bangladesh and 77 in the Philippines.

"In the Mekong River, the majority of Irrawaddy dolphin deaths in recent years have been caused by entanglement in gillnets—'curtains' of fishing net that hang in the water," the IUCN wrote in its Tuesday report, adding that efforts to ban or at least minimize their use in many areas have been ineffective, resulting in declines of many species of whales, dolphins and porpoises.

Between 2002 and 2016, 42 dolphins were found dead in Myanmar, 29 of them in the Irrawaddy Dolphin Protected Area (ADPA). Established in December 2005, the ADPA is the first national aquatic protected area to be so designated by the Department of Fisheries in Myanmar.

The ADPA covers a 74 km-length of river starting from Mandalay Division's Mingun in the south up to Sagaing Division's Kyaukmyaung in the north. With support from the WCS, the protected area was established with an aim to reduce the threats to dolphins, which include electric fishing, gill nets and pollution, and preserve the human-dolphin cooperative fishing practice. In this mutually beneficial tradition, fishermen communicate with the dolphins with throaty calls and the dolphins drive the fish towards the fishermen's boats and signal to them on when to throw their nets.

There are at least six villages on the banks along this stretch of the Irrawaddy River, where about 60 local fishermen still preserve the practice, according to U Han Win, the officer in charge of the Irrawaddy Dolphins Conservation team of WCS Myanmar and an official at the Department of Fisheries.

The Department of Fisheries and WCS Myanmar in late 2015 launched a community-based ecotourism project in the ADPA zone, which encourages dolphin-watching tours so that humans can experience the unique human-animal interaction and hopefully contribute to the continuous rise of the local dolphin population.

"We find one or two dolphin calves annually and I suppose it's no longer a critically endangered situation [in Myanmar]," U Han Win told The Irrawaddy, noting that the population has edged higher over three consecutive years from 58 in 2015, to 65 in 2016 and to 69 in 2017.

Electric-shock fishing, especially in the ADPA zone, is prohibited by the Freshwater Fisheries Law, enacted by the Department of Fisheries, and violators face three years in prison or a fine of 300,000 kyats.

Even though electronic fishing is a major threat to the population of Irrawaddy dolphins locally, U Han Win said that other causes such as pollution in the river water, allegedly caused by illegal gold mines in upstream areas, needed to be addressed as well.

"We have done no specific surveys on the cause of dolphin deaths," he said.

The post Status Of Irrawaddy Dolphin Raised To 'Endangered' appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Suu Kyi Dismisses Speculation of President’s Ill Health

Posted: 08 Dec 2017 05:56 AM PST

NAYPYITAW — State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said President U Htin Kyaw was in fine health in response to speculation that his condition had deteriorated following an operation in September.

"There is no need to worry. We have the first lady who will take care [of the president], so why do we need to worry when there is someone to take care of him?" she said in reply to a reporter's question at an education development seminar in Naypyitaw on Friday.

The president underwent a successful operation in Bangkok in September to have a polyp in his colon removed, according to state media.

"The president is in good health. He is good. No need to worry," U Win Htein, a senior leader of the ruling National League for Democracy with close ties to the president, told The Irrawaddy.

President U Htin Kyaw has made few public appearances since he took office early last year. But the 71-year-old appeared to have lost weight and looked pale when he received Pope Francis in Naypyitaw late last month.

The 2008 Constitution lays out the procedures to be followed in case the country's top office holder retires before the end of his or her term, so there would be no problems if President U Htin Kyaw were to do so, said former Lieutenant General Hla Htay Win.

"According to the Constitution, the [first] vice president will become the acting president, and then an election will be held to elect a vice president. Then the president will be elected from among three vice presidents," he explained.

The President's Office, however, said on Friday that President U Htin Kyaw would soon pay an official goodwill visit to Japan and attend the Universal Health Coverage Forum in Tokyo at the invitation of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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Mine Detonated On Rakhine Chief Minister’s Route

Posted: 08 Dec 2017 04:09 AM PST

YANGON – A roadside mine exploded not long after a motorcade transporting Rakhine Chief Minister Nyi Pu passed by the spot on the Ann-Myebon Highway this morning, the state's Border Affairs Minister Col. Phone Tint told The Irrawaddy.

An army truck from an unidentified unit was hit by the blast, which resulted in four soldiers sustaining minor wounds.

"The chief minister safely arrived back in Sittwe at 1 p.m. and we are now holding a meeting," Col. Phone Tint said in a phone interview.

Rakhine State Municipal Affairs Minister Min Aung, who accompanied the chief minister on a several-day long trip to Gwa, Thandwe, and Taungup Townships to observe development projects, said that Ny Pu returned from Taungup yesterday and spent a night at Ann Township, where Myanmar's Western Command is based.

He said the mine did not appear to have been targeting the cabinet members' convoy as the explosion occurred an hour after the vehicles had passed the location, and the military truck was the more likely target. The attack occurred near a Chin village about 46 miles away from Ann Township. In addition to the four soldiers who were hurt, the truck's windshield was destroyed by the explosion.

Min Aung said the army truck was not part of the security detail for the chief minister's tour, as police provided protection during the trip hours.

A local resident told The Irrawaddy under condition of anonymity that the mine went off near a bailey bridge outside Toke Chaung village, which consists of about 100 households. The majority of the residents are ethnic Chin who farm for their livelihood. The scene of the explosion is a five-minute walk from the village.

"We've never heard of [such an incident] before in this area," the villager said.

He said locals considered the mine blast a curious incident given the area is under the control of the military and no one was seriously injured. He also pointed out that the incident happened between the Western Command and the No. 9 Divisional Training School, which is located about 27 miles from Toke Chaung village and known locally known as the Kan Ne army training school.

In response to the public reaction to the mine explosion, Regional Minister Min Aung declined to comment, saying the issue is related to army affairs.

On Thursday, authorities in Mrauk-U Township, which is about 57 miles from Toke Chaung village, removed a couple of mines that had been planted under a bailey bridge.

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French Firm Helps Shan Farmers Turn Poppy to Coffee

Posted: 08 Dec 2017 03:10 AM PST

NAYPYITAW — A coffee growers cooperative in Shan State and a French roasting company signed a memorandum of understanding on Thursday in Naypyitaw that pledges the roaster to buy from the farmers for five years in a bid to combat opium cultivation in the region.

"We'll pay higher than the market prices. We'll buy coffee for five consecutive years. But because it's meant for the international market, it is important that quality is not compromised," Jean-Pierre Blanc, executive director of Malongo Coffee Co., said at the signing ceremony.

According to the agreement, Malongo will buy coffee from Green Gold, a cooperative of coffee growers from over 60 villages in Hopong, Loilem and Ywangan townships for the next five years.

Since 2014, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has provided assistance, including coffee seeds and technology, to promote poppy substitute cash crops in the region.

According to Green Gold Chairman U Hla Soe, there are now 1,245 coffee growers and 953 hectares under coffee cultivation in the three townships.

"Almost all the inputs including seeds are given to us. We only have to grow on our land, and the production cost is all about labor," U Sai San Lu, a resident of Sa Nin village, told The Irrawaddy.

"But of the 80 households in our village, only 36 of them grow coffee. The others are not yet interested in it," he said.

Other coffee growers who attended the signing ceremony spoke of the same situation in their villages, which they attributed to the relative liquidity of poppy, which can be harvested about 100 days after planting. With coffee, farmers must wait three years for the first harvest.

"I am growing 10 acres of coffee now and I still grow about three acres of poppy. You can get a quick return from poppy, usually in 100 days. I can sell opium in my village," said a grower who asked not to be named.

"Since this is the first [coffee] harvest, the yield is low. Some have chosen to grow coffee because Malongo will buy all the coffee in cooperation with the UNODC. But there are people who chose to continue growing poppy," said U Khun Sein Tun, from Wankyaung village.

According to the UNODC's Myanmar Opium Survey 2017, launched earlier this week in Naypyitaw, the area under opium poppy cultivation decreased significantly in 2017 to 41,000 hectares, down 25 percent from the 55,500 hectares recorded in 2015.

Opium production has also decreased 18 percent, from 647 metric tons in 2015 to 550 tons in 2017, according to the report.

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‘December Morning’ Exhibition Captures the Vibrancy of the Season

Posted: 08 Dec 2017 01:18 AM PST

When people talk about December, "sweet" is a common modifier. While Christmas and New Year contribute to the month's significance in western countries, December is synonymous with freshness and vitality in Myanmar.

In the 1960s, a group of artists including M Tin Aye, U Ba Yin Lay, Yangon Ba Swe and U Min Naing – inspired by dewy December mornings – staged an art exhibition that they called 'December Morning.' For next few decades, they captured December mornings across the country, trying to embellish the month in vibrant colors.

The exhibition runs through Monday at Moon Art Gallery on 35th Street in Yangon's Kyauktada Township.(Photo: Thet Htun Naing/ The Irrawaddy)

After the death of those veteran artists, a younger generation of artists kept the exhibition alive year after year, capturing different scenes in different places.

"This exhibition is about wishing people a happy New Year," said Ko Maung Kyaw Than, an artist who has participated in the exhibition for more than 30 years.

The exhibition runs through Monday at Moon Art Gallery on 35th Street in Yangon's Kyauktada Township.(Photo: Thet Htun Naing/ The Irrawaddy)

The artist, together with two younger artists Phay Than and Zaw Win Htoo, this year went to Shan State to capture colder mornings and misty mountains there.

"We went to Kalaw and Aungban. Visitors will be able to feel the cold December morning in our paintings of mountainous areas," said Ko Maung Kyaw Than.

The exhibition runs through Monday at Moon Art Gallery on 35th Street in Yangon's Kyauktada Township.(Photo: Thet Htun Naing/ The Irrawaddy)

"This is the second time I've participated in this art exhibition. I'm more keen on portraits and my paintings at this exhibition are mostly portraits of Akha, Palaung and Shan ethnic women," said Phay Than.

The exhibition, which runs through Monday at Moon Art Gallery on 35th Street in Yangon's Kyauktada Township, features more than 70 paintings that can be purchased for between US$200 and $ 1,500.

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Prisons to Improve Nutrition for Inmates Across the Country

Posted: 08 Dec 2017 12:32 AM PST

MANDALAY — The Correctional Department, under the Ministry of Home Affairs, said it would increase daily nutrition for inmates across the country.

A department spokesperson explained that nutrition budgets were set by the state governments.

"Before, meat curries were served only two days a week. Now, it will be four. And bean soup was served five days a week, but it will now be available every day," said U Min Tun Soe, the department spokesperson.

According to the department, an inmate previously received 600 kyat per day of food, while labor camp inmates received the equivalent of 625 kyat.

"After the increase, prison inmates will receive food equivalent to 975 kyat per day, and labor camp inmates will receives 1,000 kyat worth, as they receive additional rice," he explained.

Although it is still a meager amount for the 90,000 inmates in 46 prison and 60 labor camps, it is an improvement, said U Min Tun Soe.

Poor nutrition in Myanmar prisons was criticized widely by rights groups for years.

Many inmates whose families can afford to send food depend on that, and share their goods with others.

According to the department, Insein central prison in Yangon Region, Obo central prison in Mandalay Region and Tharyarwaddy central prison in Bago Region have also recently been funded with 5,000,000 kyats each for medical needs.
The department is also building new prisons to ease overcrowding, said the department spokesperson.

"We've opened a prison in Mohnyin, with the capacity of 1,000 inmates. It will ease the crowding in Myitkyina's prison," he added.

The spokesperson said there would be two more prisons in Kyaikmayaw in Mon State and Daik-U in Bago Region, to be opened by the end of this year.

"In some prisons, the number of inmates outnumbers the suggested capacity. We will move these prisoners once new prisons open. This will ease overcrowding and make family visits more convenient," he added.

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Myanmar Govt Takes Steps to Repatriate Hindus Who Fled to Bangladesh

Posted: 08 Dec 2017 12:06 AM PST

NAYPYITAW — The Myanmar government is taking steps to repatriate more than 400 Hindus who fled to Bangladesh since August 25 after insurgent attacks on border police prompted counter-insurgency military operations in northern Rakhine State.

Union minister for Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement Dr. Win Myat Aye on Thursday revealed the plan to reporters in administrative capital Naypyitaw at the meeting of the Union Enterprise for Humanitarian Assistance, Resettlement and Development in Rakhine State (UEHRD).

The Myanmar government has sent application forms for Hindu people to fill out in order to come back to Myanmar.
"We'll send more application forms depending on the number of houses available in the area," said Dr. Win Myat Aye, as many houses were burned down or damaged in the conflict.

On Nov. 22, the Myanmar and Bangladeshi governments signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the repatriation of refugees. The two countries agreed to form a joint committee within three weeks and start the repatriation process within two months.

The Myanmar government sent application forms in response to the request of Hindu refugees, said Dr. Win Myat Aye, who is also the vice-chair of UEHRD, adding that the government would only send and accept application forms for those who were willing to come back to Myanmar of their own accord.

"We are arranging accommodation for them. For example, we are planning to build houses near Nga Khu Ya and Taung Pyo Let Wae villages where houses were burned down," the minister told reporters.

Arakanese lawmaker U Aung Thaung Shwe representing Rakhine State's Buthidaung in the Lower House has criticized the government for failing to publicize the repatriation agreement.

He suggested that Arakanese people are likely to leave their native towns if the government accepts back Bengalis—a term used by the majority of Myanmar people to refer to the Rohingya as interlopers from Bangladesh—for fear that insurgents might also infiltrate into the state along with refugees.

"Arakanese people can live together with Hindus who live peacefully. But what if insurgents come back? If they come back here, we can't live here. We dare not. We can only leave," U Aung Thaung Shwe told The Irrawaddy.

The latest repatriation agreement is a modification of a 1993 agreement between the two governments.

It is not clear if the Myanmar government has also sent applications for Muslim refugees in Bangladesh. But, the minister said that houses were being built in northern Rakhine State for their repatriation as well.

Anyone coming back will have to undergo the national verification process according to the 1982 Citizenship Law, and full citizenship and associate citizenship along with fundamental rights and freedom of movement will be granted respectively to those who are eligible, according to the minister.

The UN estimates that more than 600,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh since Aug. 25, but the Myanmar government has denied those figures.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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Cambodia Goes All-in on China in Casino Port City

Posted: 07 Dec 2017 09:08 PM PST

SIHANOUKVILLE, Cambodia — Between Sihanoukville's beaches and its multiplying casinos, "Lao Qi" and Bun Saroeun run restaurants barely a hundred dusty meters apart. But their fortunes could not be more different.

For while Lao Qi is riding the Chinese boom that brought him and thousands of others from China to the Cambodian resort, Bun Saroeun's business was built on low-budget Western visitors. It is far less profitable and now he faces eviction.

Sihanoukville starkly illustrates how Cambodia's ever tightening relationship with China is transforming the country. Just as China's aid and investment have helped Prime Minister Hun Sen defy Western criticism of a crackdown on his opponents, they are also binding Cambodia’s economy ever more closely to China’s.

Sihanoukville, which has Cambodia's only deep-water port, was carved out of the jungle in the 1960s and named after former King Norodom Sihanouk. Once a playground for Cambodia's elite, it fell on hard times during the Khmer Rouge genocide and conflicts of the 1970s and 1980s before becoming a stop for backpackers and other Westerners looking for sun, sea, sand and – for some – sex.

But a steady trickle of Chinese money into its casinos has now swelled to a tide that promises to remodel a city touted by developers as the first port of call on China's "Belt and Road."

"This is like China 20 years ago. The opportunity is huge," said Lao Qi, 33, who goes by his nickname and first moved here from China's Zhejiang province to work in a casino. His noodles and fried rice can now make him hundreds of dollars a day.

Down the road at the Ecstatic Pizza restaurant, 59-year-old Bun Saroeun counts himself lucky to make over $100 a day. Rising hotel prices and the noise of construction are discouraging Western visitors and Cambodian tourists from the city, he says.

"A few Chinese came here but now they have their own restaurants," said Bun Saroeun, whose landlord is now evicting him to redevelop the prime property near the Occhuteal Beach.

The Chinese influx is very much by design. In charge of the city is governor Yun Min, the former regional military commander and a close ally of Hun Sen. He made trips to China himself to encourage investors and offer them protection.

"We want more of them to come," he told Reuters, estimating that Chinese already rent half the property in the city. "We benefit from them."

‘Macau Two'

Estimates for the numbers of Chinese now resident in the city of 250,000 run from the thousands to the tens of thousands, but no figures are made public.

Across Sihanoukville, Mandarin signs are proliferating. Supermarkets packed with Chinese goods are commonplace – the only Cambodian items tend to be beer and bottled water.

Yet the current Chinese influx into Sihanoukville is nothing compared to what is forecast. Near the once tranquil Independence Beach, concrete towers have sprouted in months, promising casinos, hotels and thousands of apartments.

"This is Macau Two," boasts Chen Hu, the 48-year-old general manager at the $200 million 38-story Blue Bay Resort development, comparing the city to the world's biggest gambling center.

At his showroom, groups of prospective condominium buyers from China admire the model. About 20 percent of at least 700 apartments have already been sold, he says. Prices range from around $125,000 to $500,000.

"A lot of people complain, but a lot of people also benefit from the injection of money from China," said William Van, 60, who owns an apartment block now filled largely with Chinese workers and has seen the value of his investment soar.

A clear attraction for all Chinese investors, developers say, has been the close Cambodia-China relationship – strengthened by Hun Sen's repeated trips to Beijing and Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Phnom Penh late last year.

On his latest trip to Beijing last week, Hun Sen won offers of investment of $7 billion from Chinese companies in a highway, a satellite city near Phnom Penh, and projects in education, entertainment and banking. It was unclear how new or firm the promises were, but they highlight the accelerating investment trend.

Business is following the flag China has planted in Cambodia.

"It's continuing and may even be exploding," said US-based academic Sophal Ear, co-author of a book on China's quest for resources abroad. "We are talking orders of magnitude now beyond what anyone else is doing…They're crowding out other investors with the sheer volume and scale of their activities."

Pictures of Xi and Hun Sen feature prominently in one of the glossy handouts from the Prince Real Estate Group as it markets apartments in Phnom Penh and now starts work on two projects costing $1 billion in Sihanoukville.

"It is a core location of the Belt and Road initiative," said marketing director Hu Tian Lu, referring to China's infrastructure-led development and diplomatic initiative.

A short drive from the port is an expanding Special Economic Zone, where 90 percent of the 110 companies now operating there are Chinese, enjoying tax-free imports and exports and corporate tax holidays.

China is due to build a four-lane highway to Phnom Penh, the international airport in Sihanoukville is being expanded – some 70 percent of international flights are already to Chinese destinations – and improved rail links are eventually planned under the Belt and Road program.

More Chinese Tourists

Although Sihanoukville is a focal point for Chinese investment, the phenomenon is far from localized.

More tourists to Cambodia come from China than any other nation – 635,000 in the first seven months of the year, or a fifth of the total. Cambodia hopes to draw two million Chinese tourists a year by 2020.

Chinese investment over the 2012-16 period was over $4 billion – more than 30 times that from the United States, even including a $100 million Coca-Cola plant, which opened last year. China’s $265 million in aid last year was well over twice that of Japan’s and nearly four times that from the United States.

Chinese dams provide most of Cambodia’s electricity; a third of the garment factories that produce Cambodia’s main export are Chinese.

Nearly half of Cambodia's $5.8 billion foreign debt is also owed to China – many multiples what it owes any other country.

The government's political debt to Beijing has also grown.

As Western countries have condemned the arrest of Hun Sen's main rival and the dissolution of his party ahead of next year's election, China has voiced support for Cambodia's efforts to keep order.

From Cambodia, China can count on its loyal support on regional issues, while it also gains a strategic foothold deep in Southeast Asia. Sandwiching Sihanoukville are concessions owned by Chinese companies that give them control of well over one-third of Cambodia's coastline.

The gush of money into Sihanoukville has meant a bonanza for land owners: one hotelier told how the Chinese turned up with an offer of twice what he was making to take his hotel over for casino staff. He no longer needs to work.

For anyone renting, it is a nightmare. Long term Western expatriates talk of being "Chinesed" – being turfed out because a Chinese customer has turned up willing to pay much more.

Real estate agent Thim Sothea got a harsh lesson in the way the market was trending when his landlord evicted his business, Sihanoukville Property, from a spot near the beach so a Chinese company could move in at double the rent.

"It's becoming Chinatown here," he said at a meeting at a cafe because he is still looking for a new space. "That's fine for the rich who own hotels and property, not for everyone else."

It also suits Lao Qi just fine. He already has plans to open a new restaurant, which he expects will be closer to the beach.

The post Cambodia Goes All-in on China in Casino Port City appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Rohingya Still Fleeing from Myanmar to Bangladesh: UNHCR

Posted: 07 Dec 2017 09:04 PM PST

DHAKA — Rohingya refugees continue to flee Myanmar for Bangladesh even though both countries set up a timetable last month to allow them to start to return home, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Thursday.

The number of refugees appears to have slowed. About 625,000 have arrived since Aug. 25. Some 30,000 came last month and around 1,500 arrived last week, the UNHCR said

"The refugee emergency in Bangladesh is the fastest-growing refugee crisis in the world," said Deputy High Commissioner Kelly Clements. "Conditions in Myanmar's [Arakan] State are not in place to enable a safe and sustainable return … refugees are still fleeing."

"Most have little or nothing to go back to. Their homes and villages have been destroyed. Deep divisions between communities remain unaddressed and human access is inadequate," she said.

Bangladesh and Myanmar agreed on Nov. 23 to start the return of Rohingya within two months. It did not say when the process would be complete.

Myanmar’s security forces may be guilty of genocide against the Rohingya Muslim minority, according to the top UN human rights official this week. Mainly Buddhist Myanmar denies the Muslim Rohingya are its citizens and considers them foreigners.

The UNHCR would make a fresh appeal to donors for funds after the end of February, Clements said.

 

 

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Thai Police Arrest Hells Angels Gang Members

Posted: 07 Dec 2017 08:57 PM PST

BANGKOK — Thai police have arrested four members of a Hells Angels biker gang accused of drug crimes, violence and posing a threat to society, the Tourist Police said on Thursday.

Three Australians and a Canadian were arrested on Wednesday in Pattaya, a major tourist resort with a reputation as a hub for foreign gangs, drug dealing and the sex industry.

Piyapong Ensarn of the Pattaya Tourist Police told Reuters that two of the accused gang members would be deported and the two others would be charged with drug offenses.

"Traces of cocaine were found on them," he said.

Reuters was unable to contact either the accused or their lawyers for comment. Pattaya is 100 km (60 miles) southeast of the Thai capital, Bangkok.

Police said they were still looking for three Australians believed to be members of the gang. A British member of the gang had fled the country before he could be arrested, Piyapong said.

The gang made headlines in 2015 when one of its members was murdered by an Australian man, who was sentenced to death in February for the killing.

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