News from Thailand – November 27, 2014

Thousands of fish, mostly tilapia, have died in a fish pond in Makkasan (Bangkok). Research showed that the oxygen level in the pond had dropped to zero.

The Drainage and Sewerage Department of the municipality of Bangkok took a look yesterday after complaints from residents. The fish had been dead for three days by then. The pond is located in an area owned by the State Railway of Thailand, but the municipality nevertheless decided to take action. The pond will be emptied and filled with water from the Khlong Saen Saep.

Of course there were rumors again; after all, this is Thailand (TIT). Evildoers would have poisoned the fish in order to catch and sell them easily, but the deputy head of the department calls that a myth. The fact that tilapia died is telling, because that fish can withstand water with a low oxygen level. [That's why that fish is certainly tasteless.]

– Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha seems to be getting a taste for foreign travel, just like his predecessor Yingluck who was more abroad than in Thailand. Earlier he traveled to Beijing and Milan and yesterday he arrived in Vientiane (Laos) for a two-day visit. He spoke with his counterpart about border trade, energy, logistical cooperation and the construction of a fifth friendship bridge over the Mekong to promote tourism.

Prior to his departure, Prayut also said he would like to talk about the possibility of buying more electricity from Laos, because there is a need for it: a claim that opponents say makes no sense. Furthermore, the report obediently reports what the Generalissimo has said [and I consider that easy-going journalism]. After Laos, Vietnam is on the travel program and next week Prayut will go to Malaysia.

[In this connection I refer to an article in Bangkok Post yesterday about the construction of the Xayaburi dam in Laos, described by the author as 'one of the most potentially damaging dams currently under construction in the world'. I still need to edit the article, so I owe you that.

The construction threatens the livelihoods of 20 million Thai and 40 million residents of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. The dam is disastrous for the Mekong Delta in Vietnam because of sediment formation.

The author pleads that Thailand does not purchase electricity from the dam in order to avoid this 'socio-economic and environmental disaster'.

Construction will start in 2015 and is proof that solidarity in the Asean countries is hard to find, because Laos and Thailand ignore the objections of Cambodia and Vietnam.]

– The villain who dared to distribute flyers criticizing the junta at the Democracy Monument on Sunday was arrested in his home on Tuesday evening. A joint team of soldiers and agents found a photocopier, a pack of paper and a Mercedes Benz. The police tracked down the man through camera images from that car. The man has stated that it was a one-man operation. "I did it because of my beliefs." He may be tried by court-martial.

Another villain is still being sought. He sprayed anti-coup texts on the facade of three buildings of Chiang Mai University. The students are currently taking exams and non-educational activities are not allowed on campus for as long as they last.

– The NRC (National Reform Council), the council that must devise reforms, will hold 1.350 public forums. The bet is on 70.000 visitors, who can all have their say about desired changes. The forums will start on December 1. Working groups are formed in each province to support the work of the NRC.

Both conventional and social media are used to publicize the work of the NRC and its progress. The NRC opens Facebook and Twitter accounts and gets airtime. The first broadcast is scheduled for December 1. All that will cost the sweet sum of 80 million baht.

– A diplomat of the Greek embassy was killed yesterday after she was hit by a moving train. The woman, like the other tourists, had got off the train at the bridge over the river Kwai in Kanchanaburi to take pictures. When the carriage started moving again, she tried to jump into her carriage. That failed, she fell under the train. The woman died in hospital. (Source: www.demorgen.be)

– A committee of 30 people, consisting of members of the emergency parliament and outsiders, will consider a proposal from the Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) to give it more powers and to punish corruption more severely.

Politicians who submit false income statements or refuse to expose their financial bottoms should be banned from politics for life instead of the current 5 years. Officials found guilty of corruption should receive the death penalty, says the NACC. The proposal has not yet been advised by the Council of State and the cabinet has not yet dealt with it.

– The two suspects in the murder of two British tourists on the holiday island of Koh Tao are not released on bail. The Samui Provincial Court has rejected the Myanmar Embassy's request for release.

The detention of the two Myanmar guest workers has already been extended five times. A lawyer from the Lawyers Council of Thailand who represents the two men says the bail is necessary so that they have the opportunity to properly prepare their defense. However, the court considers the flight risk too great.

– The daily allowance of the volunteer rangers in the South will be increased from 120 to 200 baht. The South has 23.227 rangers. They all work in dangerous areas and are therefore a target for insurgents or a bomb attack.

– Ten activists, who 'stormed' the parliament building seven years ago, have been acquitted by the Court of Appeal. The Court thus overturned the conviction of the lower court. It considered the action permissible because it had peaceful intentions. Parliament was able to hold meetings undisturbed during the 'storming'. The court had previously sentenced the ten to suspended sentences ranging from eight months to two years.

– To lure investors to the violence-ravaged South, the government will offer them benefits, but in areas with minimal violence. Prime Minister Prayut announced this bait yesterday at an award ceremony for prominent industries. Details are not mentioned in the message. Prayut said much more about investments, but you can read that for yourself on the newspaper's website if you wish. The title reads: Prayut vows to lure investors to deep South.

– It no longer stinks in the new shopping center Siam Square One. We managed to plug the hydrogen sulfide leak that caused the stench. At the end of September, tenants had already started to complain; for 31 of the 300 it was reason to want to get rid of their contract.

– Young people, don't believe the advertisements that alcohol is good for your health, warns the Health Promotion Policy Research Centre. Those talks are sold on social media where info-graphics have to support the claim. Looks scientific, but hits like pliers on a pig.

For example, the claim that beer contains nutrients. True, but they are also in other healthier foods, said director Thaksaphon Thamarangsi at a panel discussion [where, when?]. Thaksaphon estimates that social media advertising and the increasing use of mobile phones generate 200.000 new drinkers each year.

Info-graphics are especially popular, says communication expert Nitta Roonkaseam, because the information is easy to digest. The more often those posts are shared or provided with a Like, the more credible the message becomes. However, it is all taken for granted. "We don't bother to check the source or the accuracy."

www.dickvanderlugt.nl – Source: Bangkok Post

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