Accused baffled over Kru Aoy claims
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| Kru Aoy |
Three people accused of blackmailing entrepreneur and self-help guru Thitinart “Kru Aoy” Na Pattalung say they are baffled by the police charges, as they don’t know each other and are barely connected to the case.
The suspects spoke out last week after Chon Buri police revealed they had issued two summons to the suspects to acknowledge charges of blackmail, defamation and publishing false information on the internet.
The suspects were identified later as instructor Rossukon “Kru Ngor” Gonggeht, who runs the acting school Drama Academy; a share trader known as Boss; and his father, Winai Boonchote.
The most prominent of the trio, Kru Ngor, was among celebrities who last June complained on social media that Kru Aoy was using their name to help promote her courses without their consent.
A week or so later, Kru Aoy went to police with details of an alleged blackmail plot. She said it started when the culprits sent her a website link containing false personal information about her and threatened to release it on a variety of internet platforms unless she stopped making merit, stopped teaching her courses, and paid up 11 million baht in 36 hours.
Celebrities including Kru Ngor who earlier asked her to remove their pictures from her publicity were forced to deny they were behind the plot.
Kru Ngor repeated the claims last week when Amarin TV brought her and the other two accused together for the first time.
“How can they be so confident of the charges? I was stunned to get their second summons as I didn’t see the first. I contacted her lawyer over her using my picture in publicity, but that’s it. I am not that hungry to get rich,” she said in response to the blackmail charge. She was likely to file a counter-complaint of defamation when she meets police next week.
Boss, who is well known in share-trading circles, runs a webpage giving advice on the share market. In June he told the media the self-help guru persuaded him and a group of her followers to invest in a company but then failed to take responsibility when they suffered huge losses.
His revelations have prompted a Securities and Exchange Commission probe against Kru Aoy for engaging in dodgy share market deals. However, Boss denies being part of the blackmail plot and says they haven’t been in touch since the share loss saga.
Boss said Kru Aoy persuaded him to invest in Asset Bright Public Company Ltd (ABC), an e-commerce and real estate firm in which she is the third largest shareholder.
He says he invested 20 million baht in total for himself and her followers, after she told him about a pending deal with an overseas investor which she assured would boost the company’s share price.
The supposed deal with the foreign investor failed to go ahead and they were left out of pocket. Boss said he is still paying off debts to the shareholders on whose behalf he invested.
Boss’s father, Mr Winai, says he doesn’t know Kru Aoy and has never attended her classes. He said the first notice from police called him in as a witness. In the second, which contained the list of charges, he was now being summoned as a suspect.
He thinks police are interested in him because he shared news of his son’s share sale link to Kru Aoy when it came to light in June.
Kru Aoy’s lawyer, Teerachat Siruntawineti, said police sent out their first summons notice on Aug 15, but no one turned up. Police have now asked Kru Ngor to come in tomorrow after her lawyer asked for a postponement. The other two suspects have been called in on Wednesday.
Football fan back from US as a woman
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| Pauline |
A devout football fan who once stood as president of the Football Association of Thailand has returned after two years overseas with a new name and a woman’s identity.
Pinit Ngarmpring, 50, now known as Pauline, last week stunned fans upon her return from the United States, with media outlets publishing before and after images of the change. Undeterred, Pauline, wearing a wig and a woman’s make-up, is embarking on a round of news media interviews to introduce her new self.
Pauline says she decided to come back after news of her identity change leaked to the media.
“At first I didn’t intend coming out. I was telling people one by one, but news got out, and I decided in the end it was probably a good thing. I am not embarrassed or scared about the change, but am worried about the reaction of some people: will they go into shock, have a heart attack?’’ she joked.
Pauline, who worked as a chef in San Francisco, says she has returned to Thailand to open a Thai fusion restaurant. She appeared on television with her son, Pup, 22, who reveals he stills calls his father “Papa” but respects his decision.
Before travelling to the US, the man known as Pinit was well known for starting an organised movement of Thai football fans, Cheer Thai Power, and for his involvement in the grubby politics of football.
He launched a high publicity bid to dislodge former Football Association of Thailand head, Wichit Kertkaew, 14 years ago, before standing unsuccessfully for the top FAT job himself in 2012.
Pauline, who said she is taking hormone therapy but has yet to undergo a sex change operation, said she decided to make the change after getting tired of the struggle between her feminine and masculine side. She was grateful for her analytical side, as it had helped her through the saga.
“Everyone is asking if I want to make the change physically,” she said. “I want to be a woman in that sense, but it is not the biggest priority. My penis is just one part of my body.
“I have the heart of a woman, and the rest will fall into place in its own time. I don’t assume everyone will approve; I will have to prove myself.
“It’s a source of stress that I have to make people see the value in me. But I have never regretted the time I was a man.”
Pauline said she had felt a desire to express the feminine part of her character since the age of five, but lacked the courage to make the change.
“When I was 45 I went to see a psychiatrist. I asked if he could give me back the heart of a man. He said no, you can’t make your desire to be a woman go away. It is harder to change your feelings than it is your body.”
A Thai online newspaper last week published a moving letter which “Pauline” writes to “Pinit”, in which she says she is relieved they no longer have to fight each other.
“I would like to thank you for shedding your ego, the part which shouldered the expectations of society and those around you, to give me a place to stand in this world in the time we have left,” Pauline wrote to her masculine half, Pinit.
“At first I wanted to discard everything about you [your male identity] but then I realised it had too much value to throw away; the same way you have never forsaken the inner me for the past 50 years of your life,” she wrote.
“I am proud of you, and don’t regret the time we spent fighting; nor do I feel sad that you didn’t admit to me or climbed off your perch earlier, because you have assessed the situation and decided this is the right time.”
Speaking on television, her son Pup, a football fan like his dad, said Pauline told him on Facebook from the US that she had made the change.
He knew before his father left that he was stressed, and was happy to hear he had confronted the source of the problem.
“Many friends are worried about me, as is Papa himself, but I would like to say that what whatever dad is, I have no problem with it,” he said.
“I believe in what he says and what he does. He is a leader, a man with ideals just as he was before.
“I think society is more broad-minded now, it accepts what we are, and won’t do harm to anyone.”
Mystery post bamboozles actress’s fans
Fans are mystified after actress Nicole Theriault published a blacked-out
image on her Instagram account and deleted the most recent picture of her and boyfriend, actor Sornram “Noom” Theappitak.
The image has led to speculation the two have argued. Older pictures of the pair remain intact.
Noom’s own social media account is silent on the matter. Fans have left many messages of support for the pair, neither of whom has commented on any rift.
Nicole and Noom are a popular celebrity couple who have talked about the prospect of marriage. Nicole, who earlier this month admitted the two families were growing close, deferred questions about marriage to Noom.
He said they would consider the matter again in the New Year, once the late King’s funeral is over. The two recently went on a well publicised trip to Hua Hin with Nicole’s son Tigger, aged 12, born to her former union with rocker Jeerasak “Maew” Panpoom.
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