News from Thailand
The Bangkok Mass Transit Authority, the municipal public transport company, is resuming bus services on Phahon Yothin Road and Vibhavadi-Rangsit Road, using both regular and air-conditioned buses 29, 26, 555, 510 and 26.
– A Nigerian was arrested on Thursday evening by the police in his apartment in On Nut (Bangkok). He was in possession of 1,5 kilos of cocaine worth 3 million baht. His arrest followed the arrest of two other Nigerians in a restaurant who were in possession of marijuana. The Nigerian had been living in for 2 years Thailand without a valid visa. He said he got the coke from a Bolivian.
– The first mobile cabinet meeting will take place in Khon Kaen next month. Khon Kaen has been hit by floods before, but the problems have since been overcome. The Cabinet will examine the system of dikes that may serve as a model for other provinces.
– A former governor of Nong Khai does not have to go to jail for 3 years thanks to an appeal in a corruption case from 1998. The man, now 71, was given the benefit of the doubt by the Supreme Court. He allegedly asked a subordinate to pay 2,4 million baht in exchange for a promotion. Another accused in this case has been in prison for a year and a half.
– The Flood Relief Operations Command, the government's crisis center, collects sandbags where they are no longer needed so that they can be used elsewhere.
– The Ministry of Agriculture asks the government for 9 billion baht to help duped farmers. The amount is intended for farmers in the South who were hit by landslides in May and for farmers who are victims of the current floods. More than 1 million farmers have suffered damage this year. Farmers registered with agricultural offices are eligible for compensation. The amount is determined by committees at the village, district and provincial level. The compensation for a destroyed rice field is a maximum of 2.222 baht per rai for the first 5 rai and half above.
– The army is delighted. According to a Bangkok University poll of 1.087 respondents, 98,3 percent are satisfied with the role of the soldiers during the floods. The prime minister scores 67,7 percent, the Froc 64,3 percent and local politicians 51,8 percent. A large majority of respondents (72,6 percent) attribute the floods to excessive rainfall and 58 percent consider the crisis to be the result of mismanagement by the authorities; 55,6 percent believe the country's irrigation system can't withstand a major natural disaster. The poll is an important boost for the military. The army leadership in particular is distrusted by ruling party Pheu Thai because of its role during the military coup in 2006 and the red shirt riots last year. A legislative change is planned to give the Secretary of Defense more influence over the appointments.
They must have completed that survey themselves. The vast majority of people I speak to, Thai and Farang, think that the government, Ying Luck and the Froc have made a mess of it. Many also believe that this disaster was largely caused and exacerbated by humans.
See dams and locks, open closed. See big bags. See the contradictory reports. See the mismanaged industrial estates in the north of Bangkok. See donmuang, still underwater. Lies and deceit, and showing nice things to the outside world, so as not to deter investors and tourists too much.
Don't believe anything that so-called surveys and government politicians propagate.
Our house and district are still flooded after seven weeks. To save the center. You don't hear anything about that. They should survey the population there, and not in the dry center of Bangkok, where they have not noticed anything.
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