News from Thailand – October 2, 2012

A tropical storm currently forming over the China Sea will bring heavy rain to the Northeast, the Central Plains and Bangkok this weekend.

It is expected that in the capital 90 mm stir falls, causing many streets to flood again. [I assume 90mm in one day.] Most streets are dry within an hour, but in 206 places it can take two to three hours. [Previous posts state 21 places. Perhaps another famous calculation error from Bangkok Post?] Until the weekend it will remain dry, which will give the authorities the opportunity to prepare.

In downtown Bangkok, the water level of the Khlong Lat Phrao and Saen Saep has been lowered. Vulnerable areas are the outer districts of Khlong Sam Wa, Min Buri, Nong Chok and Lat Krabang because they lie outside the flood walls of the city.

Royol Chitradon, director of the Hydro and Agro Informatics Institute, inspected some khlongs. According to him, they should be equipped with 'water pushers' to increase the flow rate and they should be dredged.

The provinces affected are located south of several dams, so the population there does not have to prepare for major flooding. The water level in the Chao Praya in the provinces of Ayutthaya and Nakhon Sawan has been reduced to two to four meters below the river dikes so that the river can absorb an extra flow of water.

– Landless farmers, slum dwellers and people affected by government and private projects started a sit-in at Government House yesterday. The first left Chiang Mai on Thursday; along the way the group grew to about a thousand people.

The demonstrators are demanding that the government speed up the issuance of common land deeds, a program set up by the previous government. Furthermore, the development of Ban Mankhong, a housing project for slum residents, needs to be speeded up. Yesterday it was UN World Habitat Day.

– A 23-year-old Israeli woman has reported an attempted assault after a full moon party on Koh Phangngan. After the party she walked alone across it beach when a Thai man tried to kiss and assault her. She bit his lip and punched him in the stomach, then ran off. The woman was treated in hospital for her injuries.

– The three skeletons found in Dr Death's orchard are subjected to a DNA test again. The DNA is examined to match that of the mothers of a couple who disappeared without a trace in 2009. That couple was employed by Dr Death aka police doctor Supat Laohawattana. The results of the new DNA test will be known within a week. An initial search turned up no match.

Supat was arrested on September 22. As yet, he has not been charged with murder (of the couple and two of his employees), but with theft (of the couple's pickup truck), possession of stolen items, illegal detention (of his Myanmar employees) and illegal possession of weapons.

– Minister Sukumpol Suwanatat does not give up his attempts to prove that opposition leader Abhisit evaded conscription at the time. According to Sukumpol, Abhisit obtained a teaching position at the military academy with the help of forged documents, so that he did not have to enlist. The minister has set up a committee to investigate the matter further.

– Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra of Bangkok denies having anything to do with the billboards placed here and there in the city. It features seven people including Sukhumband and the text (translated) 'Bangkok people's love for His Majesty never falters'.

Critics accuse the governor of abusing the royal family to secure his position in January's gubernatorial elections. But Sukhumbhand says the billboards are a private sector initiative. 'There's a picture of me on it. That's all.' Reportedly, the Democratic party is not very happy with the billboards.

– Images of naval officers carrying a G dancing should never have been uploaded to YouTube, says the commander of the Third Naval Area. The Navy men performed the strange dance during an entertainment program for retired personnel. After the clip appeared on YouTube, a TV show took over the footage. The commander is sorry if some find the clip indecent and offensive.

– The office of the Constitutional Court has refused the petition to rule on the mortgage system for rice. The petition was submitted by 146 students and teachers from Thammasat University and the National Institute of Development Administration. According to them, the system is against the constitution. According to a spokesman for the office, the petition did not meet the applicable requirements.

– Three hundred dogs were intercepted yesterday when they were in cages on four pickup trucks on their way to Bang Bang Sai Yai (Mukdahan), from where they would be smuggled across the Mekong to Laos to end up on a dinner plate in Vietnam. Four persons from Si Sa Ket were arrested. The dogs were in a bad condition.

– The popular TV show Panda Channel has been removed from the picture tube by TrueVisions. The program that followed panda Lhinping at Chiang Mai Zoo started in 2009 and gained many fans. TrueVisions ended the program to make room for new channels. But fans needn't grieve just yet. The giant panda can be seen online for another month.

– Prime Minister Yingluck keeps her shapely leg stiff now that politicians from the so-called House No. 111 group push for cabinet change. They see their chance to gain more political influence because the post of the Interior has been released.

Members of the group were members of Thai Rak Thai, Thaksin's party. When the party was dissolved, they were given a 5-year political ban. It ended in May. According to a source close to Yingluck, she does not want to give in to their demands, partly because they did not help with Pheu Thai's election campaign in 2011. Moreover, according to this source, they consider themselves superior to the other ministers whom they refer to as 'C- politicians' grade, including Yingluck.

'The 111 politicians cannot be brought into the cabinet because they cannot get along with the prime minister. Who wants to appoint people who overshadow you?', says the source. But another source, who according to the newspaper is in close contact with big brother Thaksin, says it would be unwise to keep the group members outside the cabinet. “They are capable and still work for the party. Although they did not participate in the elections, they fully support Pheu Thai.'

The red shirt movement puts forward Jatuporn Prompan, the recalcitrant and well-spoken red shirt leader and ex-parliamentarian. He would be an ideal candidate to succeed Yongyuth Wichaidit as interior minister. Yongyuth has resigned due to a mishap in his previous job.

Economic news

– Farmers are allowed to store the rice they offer for the mortgage system in the coming season. They receive compensation from the government for this. Although the newspaper does not report this, the measure will have been taken because all silos are overflowing with the rice that was bought in the past season.

The government is having great difficulty getting rid of the overpriced rice. Many Thai exporters refrain from participating in auctions organized by the Ministry of Commerce because of the price. Recently, the ministry managed to sell only 57.605 tons of rice out of 558.000 tons of rice auctioned. Many exporters would also have doubts about the quality of the stored rice. The stock currently exceeds 10 million tonnes. [In previous posts I read 10; 12; 12,6 and 15,7 million tons.]

Despite the increasing criticism of the money-guzzling system that is also plagued by corruption, the Yingluck government does not budge. For the coming season, it will allocate more than 400 billion baht, an amount pre-financed by the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives. He has to borrow the money on the money market.

There is a difference of opinion between the BAAC and the Ministry of Agriculture on the size of the main and second harvest in the 2012-2013 season. The BAAC estimates that 26 million tons of paddy will be offered, the ministry puts it at 23,5 million tons. Last week, the cabinet should have taken the plunge, but that is now happening today.

As in the previous season, farmers receive 15.000 baht for a ton of white rice and Hom Mali 20.000, amounts that are about 40 percent above market prices.

– Australia, the United States, the Philippines and Pakistan asked critical questions about the mortgage system during the meeting of the Agricultural Committee of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in September. Possible violation Thailand are so-called aggregate measure of support limit. This is the maximum amount that a country can spend on support for agriculture. For Thailand it is 19,028 billion baht.

Thailand's last report to the WTO relates to 2007, when aid would have amounted to 17,62 billion baht, but DTB Associates says the country incorrectly calculated the subsidy amounts. Thailand is said to have almost reached the limit from 2005 to 2007.

The US Agriculture Department previously said it would send observers to Thailand to examine the system. The system may violate WTO rules because it distorts market prices by subsidizing rice farmers. Yanyong Phuangrach, permanent secretary of the Commerce Ministry, said at the time that the farmers do not receive "subsidies" but "income support". The WTO defines subsidies as measures that reduce production costs, resulting in lower prices and dumping at the expense of other countries.

– In the editorial of September 26 writes Bangkok Post that UN agencies and major food producers expect a food shortage next year due to drought. As a result, the prices of rice and other foods will rise. If the government abuses this by throwing the stored rice on the market and making a nice profit, Thailand will be seen as a food hoarder and profiteer, the paper warns.

– State oil company PTT Plc expects petrol consumption in Myanmar to rise sharply now that the country is opening up to investors and tourists. Currently, consumption is 38 liters per person per year, which is extremely low compared to Thailand where consumption is 700 litres.

In formation is PTT Oil Myanmar Co, which, together with a partner from Myanmar, will work on the petrol market, both small consumption and wholesale. Currently, PTT sells lubricating oil through a local distributor and the company exports gasoline to Myanmar.

– EVEANDBOY, a cosmetics and perfume store from the Northeast, is coming to Bangkok. A store will be opened at Siam Square with a range of 10.000 products, including 350 top brands of cosmetics and perfumes. They are supplied by a hundred manufacturers, including Unilever and Proctor & Gamble. The perfumes are 30 to 40 percent cheaper than at the large retail chains. The store can count those low prices because the profit margin is only 15 percent, says manager Hiran Tanmitr.

Hiran converted his family's 30-year-old grocery store into a beauty store when competition from grocery chains became unsustainable. The new business turned out to be a hit, because Thais spend a lot of money on body care. There are now three stores: one in Maha Sarakham and two in Khon Kaen.

If the fourth store is doing well, new ones will be added next year. Hiran hopes to have 8 to 9 stores in the next few years and maybe 20 within 10 years.

– Siemens AG has high expectations of Thailand. It places the country in the group of so-called Second Wave Emerging Countries, along with Vietnam, Indonesia, Mexico, Turkey and South Africa. The first wave are the so-called BRIC countries: Brazil, Russia, India and China.

Siemens hopes to launch more rail projects this year. The Purple Line will probably be the first to be put out to tender later this year. Siemens also wants to bid for the planned high-speed lines.

Earlier this year, Siemens signed a contract with the operator of the overground metro for the delivery of 35 metro trains. They are being used on the Sukhumvit line to extend the current trains from three 'boxes' to four.

A cooperation agreement has been signed with a company in Khon Kaen for the assembly of equipment for the State Railways of Thailand. Finally, Siemens is collaborating with a number of universities in the development of a master's degree for railway engineers.

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.
Enough hobbies, but unfortunately little time: writing for Thailandblog, fitness, health and nutrition, shooting sports, chatting with friends and some other oddities.

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