News from Thailand – July 19, 2013

News from the 'jet-set' monk front. Suphan Konhin from Ubon Ratchathani, who claims to be related to ex-monk Wirapol Sukphol, set fire to his motorcycle yesterday as he was forced to leave the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) building in rage. He wanted to file a complaint about defamation of the monk, but apparently received no response.

In the meantime, the DSI has asked the Department of Consular Affairs to revoke Wirapol's passport. A similar request, but to the ministry, has been made by the Office of the National Buddhism.

The Office of the Narcotics Control Board has been asked to cooperate with the DSI's investigation into drug trafficking by the monk, and the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) has been asked to revoke the monk's visa. The ICE has received an arrest warrant translated into English.

Interpol has been asked to put Wirapol on its wanted suspects list, but Interpol has said this can only happen once he has been formally charged.

Finally, the DSI came across twenty new cars, which were bought by the monk on his behalf by his younger brothers and his accomplices.

The abbot of Wat Or Noi in Kamphaeng (Nakhon Pathom) accuses several monks in Si Sa Ket and Ubon Ratchatani of turning a blind eye to Wirapol's misconduct. He has filed a complaint with the Sangha Supreme Council of Thailand.

– Long time no word about Sathian Permthong-in, former Permanent Secretary of Defense and suspected of accepting bribes. The last message dates from March, but the National Anti-Corruption Commission has not been idle since then.

The NACC is now investigating another 800 million baht worth of land and real estate. In February, the NACC froze $65 million worth of property owned by Sathian, his wife, daughter and a lecturer from Thammasat University.

According to Sathian, he would have received part of the 800 million from his mother-in-law. An investigation committee of the NACC will try to trace the origin of the money. When Sathian cannot provide a satisfactory explanation for the provenance, the newly found property is also seized.

Sathian was due to testify before the NACC earlier this month, but has asked for an extension. The NACC gives him 45 more days. According to a source [?], a traditional Thai wooden house in Ubon Ratchathani is one of the suspected properties.

– The army is going to try again: the zeppelin, bought especially for air surveillance in the South in 2009 for the not-nauseous amount of 350 million baht, to get into the air. First it ripped at the seams, it was repaired in the US, crash-landed during a test flight in August 2011, and crashed again in December 2012.

The army now has a budget of 50 million for repairs and has opened the tender. Reportedly, the army would like to scrap the Aeros 40D Sky Dragon, but an army spokesman contradicts that message.

– Earlier, army commander Prayuth Chan-ocha already protested against the inclusion of Sadao district on the list of areas for which the ceasefire applies, and now residents are also taking up arms. They don't find it fair that their district is associated with southern violence, because violence never happens there. See also News from Thailand of 16 July.

Last Friday, Malaysia announced that Thailand and resistance group BRN had reached an agreement on a ceasefire during Ramadan. The agreement covers Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala provinces and five districts in Songkhla province, including Sadao.

In Khok Pho, five shots were fired at the 80-year-old mosque around midnight on Tuesday. The door and pillars were damaged. In Narathiwat, a man suspected of involvement in a 2006 Sungai Padi bombing turned himself in.

– Party in Muang (Samut Sakhon). The Central Administrative Court has ordered local authorities to close down the coal company Techni Team (Thailand). The company provides the transport and storage of coal and received permission for the construction of a port on the Tha Chin River.

The court acknowledged that the company harms the health of residents and the environment. If the company appeals, then there is no man overboard, because the ban on business operations remains in effect.

In 2011, the residents' struggle against polluting coal transport claimed a fatality. Then the protest leader was shot dead.

The message mentions that Unique Mining Services Co has resumed its business activities, but I don't understand exactly how that happened.

– The Charoen Pokphand Group (CP) is urging the government to improve the maintenance of the Chao Praya and Pasak rivers in Ayutthaya so that cargo transport is not affected by the shallow areas during the dry season. The company asked this yesterday during Prime Minister Yingluck's visit to CP's rice factory.

It has also asked for two bridges to be raised, but the Transport Minister has already called that idea impracticable. He did have good news: the 2 trillion baht budget for infrastructure works pays for river maintenance and the construction of river dikes. There are 64 harbors on both rivers in Ayutthaya.

– The train between Bangkok and Chiang Mai is running again. On Tuesday night, the route was blocked because the night train derailed. Thirty passengers were injured.

– In the night from Wednesday to Thursday, three 7-Eleven stores in Sukhumvit were robbed. The gentlemen looted 1.440, 1.200 and 1.000 baht respectively. That must have failed.

– The police are looking for a vocational training student who threw a homemade ping pong bomb at a bus in Thon Buri on Wednesday evening. Five persons were injured. The gentleman was part of a group of students on motorcycles. On the bus were students from a rival school. The police have eleven with them machetes confiscated.

– In Muang (Khon Kaen) the police arrested three teenagers who threw stones at passing cars. Six vehicles were damaged. The young people had been drinking.

– A coordination and information center has been opened in Pattaya for Russian tourists and expats. The agency provides information on local tourism, laws and businesses and cooperates with authorities in combating crimes committed by foreigners.

Political news

– Opposition party Democrats supports the amnesty proposal of a group of citizens, relatives of the red shirts who died in April and May 2010 during the red shirt riots. But the proposal must make it clear that those guilty of corruption and lèse-majesté will not receive amnesty.

Party leader Abhisit says the proposal has clear conditions: only amnesty for civilians, regardless of political affiliation, and for those who committed minor non-criminal offences. And no amnesty for those who, in violation of the Criminal Code, incite others to kill, set fire to public property, and injure civilians or soldiers.

Abhisit calls the citizens' proposal the first proposal that has a reasonable and conciliatory tone. He cannot say that about the other previously submitted proposals. Some argue for a blank amnesty regardless of the offenses committed. These proposals have been submitted by, among others, a member of parliament from the ruling party Pheu Thai, Chalerm Yubamrung (the current Labor minister), government whips and other groups.

The opposition is ready to cooperate fully with the government if it withdraws those other proposals, which are currently being discussed, and puts the citizen's proposal on the parliament's agenda.

The United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) continues to support Pheu Thai MP Worachai's proposal to grant amnesty to red shirts imprisoned for three years. Worachai himself says that his proposal should be the first to be dealt with when parliament returns from recess on August 1. He wants it to be considered before the 2014 budget. The deliberations should not take long because the bill excludes protest leaders from amnesty as well as those who ordered the security forces to crack down on the red shirt protests.

Economic news

– Capital Rice, Thailand's largest producer and distributor of organic rice, has deployed a new system to destroy the weevil. Not carbon dioxide but nitrogen is used in the vacuum packaging of the rice, which saves time and costs, says deputy director Wanlop Pichpongsa. The method was developed in collaboration with the National Innovation Agency and Siam Waterflame Co.

Insects such as the weevil spread quickly, especially on chemical-free rice that has been stored for a long time. When rice has been stored for three months, the average number of weevils per kilo is 23 and when the rice is stored even longer, that number skyrockets.

Regular rice usually uses methyl bromide. It kills the bugs as well as their eggs and cocoons. Thailand will follow 177 other countries to ban the gas in 2015 to reduce the depletion of the ozone layer. Many rice companies have already switched to phosphine which eradicates the weevil gases after 5 to 7 days.

With organic rice, the carbon dioxide is pumped into containers. It takes 15 days to send all the critters to the eternal hunting grounds. When using the new method, the oxygen level in the container is reduced to 0,5 percent and nitrogen takes up the rest. Normally air consists of 21 percent oxygen, 78 percent nitrogen and 1 percent other gases. The new method takes a week.

Over the past two years, the system has been tested and monitored by the Agriculture Department. The NIA has provided financial support. Last year, Thailand produced 69.000 tons of organic rice, of which 6.000 tons were exported.

www.dickvanderlugt.nl – Source: Bangkok Post