News from Thailand – January 20, 2013
The demands of the striking Thai Airways ground staff have been met for half. On Saturday evening, the board of directors decided to agree to the demanded wage increase of 7,5 percent and not to limit it to 4 percent as offered. The demanded bonus of 2 months wages for 2012 instead of 1 month is still being negotiated.
On Friday evening, the ground staff responsible for baggage handling stopped working. According to Jaemsri Sukchoterat, chairman of the THAI trade union, the strike is not illegal because the approximately four hundred employees are on strike during their overtime. She says no one in charge showed up all day Saturday.
Thirty THAI flights were delayed by 15 to 20 minutes as a result of the strike. Some international flights were also affected. But most of the disruption was experienced by passengers who had to wait a long time for their luggage. Passengers complained that they were left in the dark about the reason for the delay.
The airport deployed personnel from Don Mueang (Bangkok's old airport) and Air Force personnel to take over baggage handling. But only Don Mueang personnel could ride the luggage carts, because the air force personnel did not have the required permit.
Minister Chadchat Sittipunt (Transport) called the strike a serious problem because it not only damages THAI but also the image of the country. He asked THAI to investigate the employees who 'failed their duties' and to take drastic measures against them if necessary.
– Army officers in the ranks of major to colonel have been involved in the smuggling of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar for years. The Rohingya enter Thailand by sea and are taken by truck, sometimes even army vehicles, to Songkhla, where they are hidden in the forests.
The involvement of army officers is confirmed by army commander Prayuth Chan-ocha. Details of the smuggling route have been revealed by a senior police source. According to this source, the police were able to apprehend the 397 Rohingya in a rubber plantation in Padang Besar because of an argument between the army officers, one of whom has tipped off the police.
The plantation is owned by a former Vice Mayor of Padang Besar. He is still being sought. General Prayuth says the army will get to the bottom of the matter. "They are bad army officers who must be exterminated."
In the past two weeks, 949 Rohingya refugees have been detained. At least 900 have been smuggled into Thailand by a human trafficking syndicate. The Rohingya were on their way to Malaysia or Indonesia. Thailand is still consulting with the UNHCR about the further course of events: repatriation to Myanmar or asylum in a third country.
– Visitors to Soi Cowboy have already noticed: above the beginning of the 150 meter long street with thirty gogo bars hangs a large banner with the text 'Safety Zone, Thonglor Police Station'. Also in Patpong, Khao San Road and Nana Plaza, as well as Patong (Phuket), the establishment of such a zone must give tourists the impression that their safety is all right.
Twelve cameras have been hanging in Soi Cowboy for two months now. They are installed in the canopies and on the roofs of the clubs, almost invisible to the public (and ill-wishers). The footage comes in at Thonglor police station and on Superintendent Chumpol Pumpuang's mobile phone.
But that's not all. Staff can follow a 'Tourist Security Volunteer' training. The volunteers are taught legal knowledge and are initiated in martial arts. If they have completed the training, they will receive a jacket with the text 'Tourist Security' and a red cap.
According to a bar employee, safety in the street has increased as well as cooperation between the bars thanks to the safety zone project. 'The main difference we see now is that there are no more beggars coming into the street and people to sell flowers. People feel much safer with the Tourist Security volunteers walking around.'
– The Northeastern Research Institute of Petrified Wood and Mineral Resources is working on plans for a dinosaur park and museum in Nakhon Ratchasima. That park should have an area of 500 rai and be connected to the planned high-speed line and highways. An example is 'Lost World' in Singapore, part of the Universal Studios.
– The villagers who suffer from the emissions from the coal-fired power plant in Mae Mo (Lampang) should be better helped by Egat, says Minister Pongsak Raktapongpaisal (Energy). The minister believes that the national electricity company should not have appealed against the court decision that obliges the company to compensate local residents.
The residents went to the Administrative Court in 2004 and demanded compensation of 1,08 billion baht and closure of the plant. In 2009, the court awarded the compensation, but Egat appealed against it.
– Vietnam and Cambodia have called on Laos to stop building the Xayaburi dam. This is what International Rivers (IR) says in a statement issued after a meeting of the Mekong River Commission (MRC), an intergovernmental consultative body of the four Mekong countries.
At the meeting, held in Laos on Wednesday and Thursday, Cambodia accused Laos of failing to consult with the rest of the country in a heated debate, according to IR, a New York-based river protection organization.
Vietnam has asked Laos to halt work, which began in November, until the environmental study is completed, agreed at a meeting of the Mekong River Council last year.
In the MRC, the four countries discuss developments in the Mekong, but no country has veto power. The construction of the Xayaburi dam is controversial. According to environmental groups, fish stocks are threatened and therefore the livelihoods of millions of people.
– The Phuket police are looking for the man, presumably a professional hit man, who shot dead Jintana Mahatthanaphak (43), human resources manager of the Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort & Spa, on Friday night.
He killed her with a single shot as she parked her car at a traffic light. When the light turned green, a Toyota Vios pulled up next to her, from which the shot was fired. Jintana's car then crashed into two power poles.
The police suspect that the motive must be sought in a conflict at work. Jintana had proposed firing some management-level employees.
Political news
– Independent candidate Sereepisuth Temeyaves for the gubernatorial election in Bangkok has had the stock upside down. Seree Supratid, director of the National Disaster Research Center at Rangsit University, is not interested in the position of deputy governor he was offered.
“I'm too busy to join his team. Besides, I don't want to get involved in politics at all. I want to continue working in my current role.' Seree gained much authority in 2011 with his accurate analysis and predictions of the floods in Bangkok. Seree has also been approached by another independent candidate and the two main rivals, Pheu Thai and Democrats.
Sereepisuth has now found a replacement in the person of Praphan Khoonmee, former prominent member of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD, yellow shirts). As an advisor, he enlisted the former head of the Fisheries Department and the Public Relations Department.
Sereepisuth has ambitious plans for Bangkok, such as more parks, free transport by air-conditioned bus, a neighborhood doctor program, food aid for the unemployed and so on. And he promises to realize all of them within his term of office of 4 years.
The number of independent candidates has now increased by one to six. Sopon Pornchokchai, president of the Agency for Real Estate Affairs, is also looking forward to it.
Economic news
Thai companies gave lower pay raises last year than companies in other countries, according to a survey of 1.605 participants in thirty markets by Towers Watson & Co, a New York-based human resources consultancy.
Employees who performed above expectations received a wage increase of 7 percent in Thailand compared to an average of 11 elsewhere in the world. Workers who performed even better, the top 10 percent, received a pay rise of 9 percent compared to 15 elsewhere.
"If Thailand continues like this," says Pichpajee Saichuae, director of Towers Watson Thailand, "we will not be able to differentiate between normal and high-performing workers."
The study also shows that employees in Thailand are less aware of how compensation based on performance is determined. In other countries of the Asia-Pacific region, employees have a better understanding of this. When employees in Thailand make their careers, it mainly happens by changing employers.
– It seems like New Year's Day with all those good intentions of the Thai government: it not only wants to put an end to money laundering, human trafficking, child labor, but it also intends to reduce software piracy from 70 to 68 percent. insist. Because Thailand is on the Priority Watch List as IPR or 'most serious intellectual property rights violator'.
The US listed Thailand in 2007. However, unlike the other lists (trafficking in human beings and money laundering), this list does not have any sanctions, but the mere fact of being placed on the list should raise the blush of shame in the jaws of the government.
The police raided 182 groups last year and found illegal software on 4.573 PCs, which amounts to 448 million baht in monetary terms. Thai companies accounted for 80 percent of the violations, while Japanese companies accounted for 7 percent.
This year, the police are targeting the automotive and auto parts industry, food, real estate and construction.
www.dickvanderlugt.nl – Source: Bangkok Post
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Known as Khun Peter (62), lives alternately in Apeldoorn and Pattaya. In a relationship with Kanchana for 14 years. Not yet retired, have my own company, something with insurance. Crazy about animals, especially dogs and music.
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Correction News from Thailand The first paragraph of the opening message has been missing for some time. I've already put it back. It's the paragraph:
The demands of the striking Thai Airways ground staff have been met for half. On Saturday evening, the board of directors decided to agree to the demanded wage increase of 7,5 percent and not to limit it to 4 percent as offered. The demanded bonus of 2 months wages for 2012 instead of 1 month is still being negotiated.