News from Thailand – September 12, 2012

The rainy season is now starting to hit in full force. Over the past week, floods have occurred in 15 provinces in the Chao Prayo and Yom river basins.

In Sukothai it takes great effort to control the water. The earthen river dike on which flood walls are located collapsed on Monday, flooding the city. The hole was closed with sandbags, weighted with stones, but on Tuesday they were not resistant to the water of the swirling river. During the night a second barrier, consisting of two thousand gabions also filled with stones, was built 200 meters away. The water outside reached a height of 2 meters.

Pumps have been deployed to pump out the water from the lower town. A temporary shelter has been set up for a thousand people in the building of the provincial sports academy. Six-wheelers and flat-bottomed boats have been supplied for the transport of residents. The local health service has deployed mobile medical units.

Other flood news

• Six districts in Ayutthaya province have been flooded. Koh Muang with the central business district, hospitals and historical sites is still spared.
• The discharge of water from the Chao Praya reservoir led to flooding of the Chao Praya and the Noi. Residential communities along the river were flooded, but farmland in irrigated areas will not flood, the Royal Irrigation Department says. If it does not rain in the coming days, the water will drop. [An indication of the places is missing.]
• The train has been running again between Lampang and Lamphun since yesterday afternoon, so Chiang Mai can be reached by train again. Or Bangkok, the other way. A large part of the subsoil of the rails had been washed away on Saturday.
• In Uthai Thani, water from Mae Wong National Park (Nakhon Sawan) caused flooding. The water flowed into the Tak Daed River, submerging several villages and fields in three districts under 50 cm of water.
• The residents of Ban Rakam (Phitsunalok) district who live along the river should prepare for flooding. The water from Sukothai flows that way.
• Minister Kittirat Na-Ranong (of the 'white lie') said yesterday that he is confident that the six industrial estates in Ayutthaya will not be flooded, thanks to the measures taken by the government. He promised to compensate farmers whose fields were flooded for the damage suffered.
• Yesterday, the king had 1.500 aid packages delivered to Sukothai via the Rajaprajanugroh foundation.

– Although family members are suspicious about the drowning death of former film actress Paswana Chanachit (69), the police have not yet found any indications for another cause of death. The actress's lifeless body was found in her swimming pool on Monday. The autopsy showed that she was alive when she came into contact with the water.

The relatives base their suspicions on the bad relationship she had with her husband and her wealth. According to Pawana's younger brother, she had been beaten to death shortly before her because he had seen a bruise under her right eye.

– 91 members of the southern separatist movement Badan Penyelarasan Wawasan Baru Melayu Patani surrendered yesterday. At the office of the Islamic Committee, they met the commander of the fourth army corps. They have asked him for legal support and said they want to start a new life.

The defectors were involved in acts of violence in Si Sakhon, Rueso and Rangae in Narathiwat province. One of them is suspected of the theft of weapons from a military camp in 2004. According to Deputy Prime Minister Yutthasak Sasiprasa, it is not about the hard core of the rebel group, because they are still fugitives. He says that Prime Minister Yingluck has promised to arrange jobs for the men and give them a loan so that they can make a new start in life.

The surrender of the 91 men was brokered by Muktar Zeekaji, spokesperson for the Pratacham party. Hundreds more insurgents are ready to surrender, he said. "They all want to come out and take care of their families."

– About XNUMX farmers who depend on rubber, coconut and palm oil for their livelihoods blocked the Phetkasem Road in Prachuap Khiri Khan on Tuesday. They protested against the low prices they get for their products. Riot police were summoned, but restrained themselves [shown in the photo] to watch. The protest lasted into the evening.

– The authorities in Chachoengsao, under pressure from residents, have postponed a wastewater treatment plan at a landfill in Phanom Sarakham district. First, laboratory tests must show whether the method mentioned in the plan is acceptable.

The scheme was proposed by the Siam Waste Service Co Ltd after the provincial court ordered the company to clean up waste it had dumped into the sea. The people living near the company are fed up with the stench and they fear leaks and soil contamination. [I will leave the rest of the message unmentioned. Complicated and no rope to tie. Hopefully the author understands the text.]

– The police inspector who tried to help Red Bull heir Vorayuth Yoovidhya after his collision with a motorcycle cop should be prosecuted for four cases, a disciplinary police commission has decided. Within three days, the inspector must show up to defend himself. The inspector had arrested the family's caretaker and wanted him to blame for the hit and run accident, perhaps at the direction of Vorayuth himself, the newspaper has suggested.

– During the robbery of a jewelry store in Ban Chang (Rayong), a police officer was shot dead yesterday when he tried to arrest the four robbers. One of the four robbers is still on the run, the other three were handcuffed shortly after the incident.

– The colorful MP ​​Chuvit Kamolvisit and 59 of his 129 associates have been sentenced to 5 years in prison by the court for their role in vandalizing beer bars on Sukhumvit Square in 2003. Six others were sentenced to three years and four months. The remaining 64 have been acquitted. Chuvit has been released on bail. Earlier, the court acquitted all with the exception of Chuvit's lawyer.

– Yesterday it was 150 years ago that Queen Savang Vadhana, daughter of King Mongkut (Rama IV) and half-sister of King Chulalongkorn (Rama VI), was born. A tragic woman: six of her eight children died, including Crown Prince Vajirunhis at the age of 17. Her two grandchildren, children of her youngest son Mahidol, ascended the throne, successively King Ananda Mahidol and the current monarch Bhumibol Adulyadej. Hence, she is known as the Queen Grandmother of Thailand.

Unesco last year recognized her as one of the world's great personalities for her commitment to public health, education, culture and welfare. For example, she took the initiative for the first mobile medical unit – on a bullock cart. She was involved in the establishment of the Thai Red Cross, of which she was chairman until her death in 1955. And she established the Somdetch Hospital in 1902, now called Queen Savang Vadhana Memorial Hospital.

Throughout the year, all kinds of activities are organized on the occasion of her birth, the most important of which is fundraising for new construction and renovation of the neglected hospital and its infrastructure. An amount of 6 billion baht is required for this.

Economic news

– The Ministry of Commerce expects to be able to make a higher price at the second auction of rice from the government stock than at the first auction. Last week, 229.661 tons were auctioned; it raised 3,97 billion baht. The rest of the 750.000 tons will be auctioned next week. The expectation to be able to capture a higher price is based on the fact that the harvest in the US is disappointing due to the drought.

The 750.000 tons are part of a stockpile of 10 million tons of rice that the government bought up under the rice mortgage scheme that started on October 7. [The 10 million is the weight after the rice has been husked.]

Sumeth Laomoraphorn, president of CP Intertrade Co, urges the ministry to sell rice regularly to alleviate the rice shortage in the interior.

– A fine example of creative calculation. This year, 90 million tons of sugar cane will be harvested, within 3 years that could be 150 million tons, says Cherdpong Siriwit, the new chairman of the Thai Sugar Millers Corporation. According to him, that goal can be achieved if three conditions are met: a database with information about which species are suitable for a certain planting season; renewal of machinery and development of water resources for sugarcane plantations.

This year, less than 97,98 million tons of sugar cane is expected to be harvested, the average in previous years, due to lower rainfall and drought in the far North and lower Northeast. Thailand has 47 sugar factories.

– More tourists in the first eight months of this year. The number of foreign tourists increased on an annual basis by 8,66 percent to 14,3 million. They came (in order of numbers) from China, Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, Laos, India, Australia, Singapore, United Kingdom and Vietnam. The Tourism Department expects further growth this year, as the number of arrivals increased by 11,5 percent on an annual basis last month.

– For sale: 50 research projects in the areas of food, agriculture, medicine, energy, environment, safety, services and manufacturing. The National Science and Technology Development Agency has collected them and will be presenting them on Investor's Day at CentralWorld on Sept. 20. “Companies looking to innovate will find these results interesting,” said President Thaweesak Koanantakool. Five may already be commercialized, because the Siam Cement Group and the Charoen Pokphand Group see something in it.

www.dickvanderlugt.nl – Source: Bangkok Post