News from Thailand – August 22, 2012

Suvarnabhumi Airport has been in operation for 6 years and the investigation into fraud in the purchase of the 26 CTX baggage scanners has still not been completed.

The Assets Scrutiny Committee, set up by the military to investigate corruption under the Thaksin government, accused 38 people of involvement, including former Prime Minister Thaksin.

The investigation was taken over by a joint panel with representatives from the Attorney General's Office and the National Anti-Corruption Commission after the ASC was disbanded. The PG wanted to dismiss the case, but the NACC reserves the right to take the suspects to court. The final decision on this will be made on Tuesday. The authorities in the US are already convinced of the fraud.

– One of the four fatalities of the fire in the Tiger Discotheque in Phuket has been identified. It concerns 24-year-old Briton Michael Pio Tzouvanni. Police expect to be able to identify the other three, two Thai women and a French man, within days. Nothing is yet known about the cause of the fire.

According to experts from the Association of Siamese Architects Under Royal Patronage, the nightclub had a sufficient number of fire exits, in fact more than necessary, but they suspect that the boxes marked fire exit could not withstand the fire. The fire extinguishers were located in a difficult to access place. It is being investigated whether the fire alarm worked.

– A 43-year-old man from New Zealand was stabbed to death in a bar in Pattaya by a Swede (40) during an argument over the suspect's girlfriend and a dog, both present in the bar. Witnesses contradict who started.

– The police did not take fingerprints from two persons suspected of arson in the CentralWorld shopping center on 19 May 2010. Quite sloppy because the Molotov cocktails and gas cylinders found in the building had fingerprints on them. An investigator from the Department of Special Investigation announced this on Tuesday in the criminal proceedings against the two suspects. The two were arrested on the basis of statements from security guards and staff of the mall.

– The excise duty on alcohol and cigarettes was raised on Tuesday. The government expects to be able to capture an additional 12 billion in revenue. The excise duty on white spirits goes from 120 to 150 baht per liter of 100 percent alcohol, and on blended spirits from 300 to 350 baht. The excise duty on cigarettes will rise from 85 to 87 percent.

Presumably a pack of Marlboro will be 8 baht more expensive, Mild Seven and Krong Thip will cost 6 baht more. Cigarettes imported from China will probably be 20 baht more expensive because VAT and import duties will also increase.

– The 27-year-old son of Chada Thaith, member of parliament from Chartthaipattana for Uthai Thani, was shot dead on Monday evening. He was fired upon from a pickup truck while driving his car on Khao Yai-Wang Road (Pak Chong, Nakhon Ratchasima). One shot hit him in the head, after which the rudderless car drove head-on into an electricity pole. Police later found 13 shell casings.

Son Farut was on his way back to the Chateau De Khao Yai Hotelwhere he and his family lived. The seven members of the family had eaten that evening at McDonald's in Tesco Lotus. Chada returned in a friend's BMW, Farut drove the Toyota Prado the family had driven to the restaurant. Halfway through the ride, the pickup truck turned up and overtook the cars twice and drove next to the Prado the second time. [The article does not mention how the other family members returned.]

Chada was the mayor of Uthai Thani before being elected to the House of Representatives in 2007. He was re-elected in 2011. Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung says the chief of police in Nakhon Ratchasima believes it was premeditated murder. The head of the provincial police thinks more of a conflict between road users.

– Army commander Prayuth Chan-ocha has asked the authorities to keep a close eye on Cambodian Muslims. According to him, some have joined resistance groups in the South. Most Cambodian Muslims are in Thailand on their way to Malaysia, where they hope to find work.

Deputy Prime Minister Yutthasak Sasiprasa said on Monday that a thousand Cambodian Muslims cross the border every month. He, too, is concerned about their real intentions. The minister has asked customs to compare the number of incoming and departing Muslims.

– The Yingluck government is considering making Thai and migrant children under the age of 6 eligible for free basic health care, including vaccinations. A study found that 7 percent of Thailand's 5 million children aged 0 to 6 have an IQ below normal and that most migrant children do not have access to health care.

The government also wants to improve pregnancy checks, children's health clinics, pre-school care and shelter for abused children. Minister Witthaya Buranasiri (Public Health) announced these fine intentions on Tuesday after a meeting at Government House of all relevant services.

– The army is willing to cooperate with the Department of Special Investigation in its investigation into the disturbances in 2010. The United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) has accused the army of having used snipers at the time. The DSI is investigating that allegation and will call soldiers, including two alleged snipers, to make a statement. No problem, says army commander Prayuth Chan-ocha. Photos would provide evidence that the military deployed snipers.

– In three attacks in Rangae district (Narathiwat), a soldier and a defense volunteer were killed and three people were seriously injured. The soldier was shot at while driving a pickup truck carrying two civilians. When an assistant district chief and five defense volunteers arrived to provide assistance, three bombs exploded in quick succession. Two hours later, two men on a motorcycle opened fire on two defense volunteers at a checkpoint. One died.

– Army commander Prayuth Chan-ocha, the director of Lumpini boxing stadium and the director general of the Crown Property Bureau on Tuesday laid the foundation stone of the new boxing stadium at the Royal Thai Army Sports Center on Ram Intra Road in Bangkok.

– Start renovating terminal 2 of the old airport Don Mueang now and don't wait until terminal 1 can no longer handle the passenger flow. This plea is made by Tassapon Bijleveld, head of Thai AirAsia, a sister of budget airline AirAsia. Bijleveld thinks that AirAsia, which will move to Don Mueang with three airlines on October 1, will grow to 4 million passengers per year over the next 14 years, so that terminal 1, which is currently being renovated, is no longer sufficient.

'Do not wait. It is better to have the capacity available in time rather than trying to meet traffic demand later,' he says. Tassapon is confident that Don Mueang will be fully operational by October 1. Two airlines currently fly from the airport. The other budget airlines that are still stationed at Suvarnabhumi are keeping an eye out for the time being.

Bijleveld repeats the call of AirAsia founder Tony Fernandes to scrap the passenger service charge of 700 baht for international flights from Don Mueang in order to stimulate passenger traffic.

– At the end of the year, gamblers can also buy lottery tickets online. The Government Lottery Office has been instructed to speed up the preparations. The lottery also offers the possibility to bet on 2 or 3 numbers. Loxley Gtech Technology Plc supplies the system and installs the vending machines. The company went to court when the lottery was canceled due to social problems. The company is now expected to waive the lawsuit.

– The Minister of Finance is considering encouraging participation in the government's debt moratorium by cutting interest rates by 3 percentage points. The scheme applies to individuals who have a debt of less than 500.000 baht with a government bank. That's 3,1 million; 70 percent have so far signed up for the scheme and the minister thinks that is not enough.

Participants suspend repayment of the principal for 3 years and pay a lower interest rate during that period. But unlike those already using the scheme, the new group must continue to make repayments.

– 7-Eleven, Thailand's most famous grocery chain, is doing well this year. The company expects to pass the 10 billion baht mark in profit. That would not be a childish increase, because last year a profit of 8 billion was made. The company bases its forecast on the figures for the first half of the year; it already has a profit of 5,35 billion baht in the pocket.

As of June 30, Thailand had 6.600 7-Eleven stores and will have 6.800 by the end of the year. The company wants to grow to 6 stores within 10.000 years. Of the current stores, 46 percent are owned by parent company CP All Plc, with the rest being franchised. Expansion to Vietnam and China is being studied.

www.dickvanderlugt.nl – Source: Bangkok Post