News from Thailand – September 22, 2014

The BMCL (underground metro) fare increase, which has been delayed for a month, may be postponed for another two months. Minister Prajin Juntong (Transport) will discuss this with the company on Saturday. If the negotiations fail, the minister will aim for a minimal increase. 

Currently, the fares vary between 16 and 40 baht, which will be 16 and 42 baht. Major shareholder Ch Karnchang Plc says the company is willing to cooperate in the service of the population.

A lot is happening in the metro area at the moment. Construction of the Blue Line between Sanam Chai and Tha Phra is 64 percent complete, 0,6 percent ahead of schedule.

A ceremony was held yesterday at the Isaraphab station construction site (pictured). They prayed for a drilling machine to drill a tunnel under the Chao Phraya, and that is not an easy job. The work is expected to be completed in 2016 and the line will be operational in December of that year.

– Newspapers can be divided into three categories. You have newspapers that are read by people who run the country; newspapers with a readership that thinks they know how to run the country and newspapers that are read by people who don't care who rules them as long as they have tits.

Thailand is no exception to that rule, although the bare breasts are missing Thai rat, but that newspaper manages to fill the entire front page with reports and photos about murders and accidents (photo home page). Bangkok Post belongs to the first category; regular readers of News from Thailand won't be surprised.

The newspaper proves it once again today with a great opening article about the relationship between the international community and the junta. The moderate tone of Thailand's main Western partners about the coup does not mean legitimization and acceptance, the newspaper writes in an analysis on the authority of experts and diplomats. And with that statement I will suffice. Let me summarize it with the traditional Dutch saying: It can freeze and it can thaw. period.

– The Ministry of Education seems to be working overtime. They have barely dropped one proposal before another plan is announced. It wants to increase the number of hours of physical exercise in public schools and vocational training from 1 to 2 hours.

And that clean task is entrusted to the Office of the Basic Education Commission (Obec) and the Office of the Vocational Education Commission. The plan was born in a conversation between the Minister of Education and of Tourism and Sport.

Says Minister Narong Pipathanasai (Education, also head of the Navy): 'Especially for young children at the level of kindergarten and primary school, physical exercise is very important for their growth and mental development. Those two things have to go together. Moreover, physical exercise promotes togetherness between students.'

The new timetable is intended to be introduced in the second semester of the 2014 school year. The sports ministry will organize training in sports safety and techniques for gymnastics teachers. The message states that the number of contact hours for some subjects will be reduced in order not to overload students, but does not provide details.

– Even more Education, now to prepare children for the dangers of flooding. Obec Secretary General Kamol Rodklai came up with the idea after visiting Sukothai and Phitsanulok. Pupils in those provinces that flood every year already know all about it.

The sg now wants to expand the national curriculum with swimming and boating lessons and information about diseases and poisonous animals. The ministry has already produced a guide with information; it goes to all schools. An elective will be introduced in the second semester of the 2014 school year.

All of this should help reduce the number of drownings. In the past 10 years, an average of 12.983 children under the age of 15 drowned each year. Drowning is the leading cause of death in that age group.

– Sixty academics from sixteen universities protest in a petition against the action of soldiers and police who put an end to a forum at Thammasat University on Thursday. Three speakers and the organizers were arrested, but released in the evening. They ask the NCPO to respect their freedom more.

Prat Panchakhunathon, a lecturer at Chulalongkorn University, says the group is aware of the junta's efforts to prevent Thailand from becoming entangled in political conflicts that widen the divide again.

But he disputes that the forum could have jeopardized national security. The theme of the forum was The Decline of Dictatorships in Foreign Countries, according to Prat a 'normal academic matter' and an 'intellectual exchange'.

A similar confrontation threatens in Chiang Mai. Soldiers have reportedly asked for a forum scheduled for Thursday to be canceled. That would be about happiness and reconciliation under the provisional constitution of 2014. The forum is organized by Chiang Mai University and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.

– Naval officers will protect forest rangers who put an end to illegal land use in Sirinat National Park (Phuket). The Ministry of the Environment has asked for protection because the head of the national park has been threatened by investors and mafia figures who own land there.

The park head is doing well, because he has reported against twelve officials who allegedly helped to provide illegal land deeds. According to a source, the good man is shocked by the threats and has asked for a transfer. After a 'good talk' with the minister, he would have promised to stay on and continue with his mission.

During a visit to the park, the minister was told that 132 of the 160 plots in the park have been used by different groups of people. The minister wants these to be regained as soon as possible. There are twenty holiday parks in the park. A report has already been filed at fourteen. The rest will follow.

– Over a length of 1 kilometer, the beach of Mae Ramphueng (Rayong) is contaminated with oil. Authorities are trying to figure out where it came from. She may have leaked from a freighter.

A large number of shellfish have already died. Tourists avoid the beach and that's a shame because Mae Ramhueng beach is one of the main tourist destinations in the province. And when tourists stay away, the fishermen are left with their caught crab, shrimp, shellfish and fish.

Oil spills are not uncommon in the province. In March, some beaches, including Mae Ramphueng, were hit. The source has never been disclosed [or discovered?]. Last year, 50 tons of crude oil stained Ao Phrao beach on the popular holiday island of Koh Samet and some parts of Rayong's coastline.

– A 42-year-old man has been arrested in Nong Khai for letting Laotian minors work as prostitutes. He ran into an undercover operation when he came up with a 14 and 16-year-old girl to the police.

A third 18-year-old girl was later freed from a home and police found seven Laotian women and a man aged 16 to 26 in a restaurant. But they have since been released because they were registered as guest workers.

The police acted after the grandmother of the two lodged a complaint. The 14-year-old told police that a man had promised her a job as a waitress in a restaurant in Vientiane. He offered a tempting salary, an offer she and three friends eagerly accepted. But in Thailand she was locked up, never paid and threatened if she refused customers.

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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