News from Thailand – September 17, 2012

For the second time in a week, the city of Sukhothai has been hit by a flood, albeit less severe than last Monday.

The residents had barely finished cleaning and tidying up when the misery started again. On Sunday, the water of the Yom River broke through a flood wall and the river also overflowed north of the flood wall. The water reached a height of 50 cm on Jarodwithee Road and in some residential areas. Evacuations were not necessary this time.

Minister Preecha Rengsomboonsuk (Natural Resources and Environment) says that monitoring the water level in Yom is a top priority. The situation will soon return to normal, he expects, because less water is already flowing through the river. As soon as the water level drops, the draining of the water goes a step further. 'It's not that serious now, because the amount of water is half of last year.'

Other flood news

• Authorities in Phitsunalok province have warned residents of three already submerged districts that the water will rise further by 50 to 70 cm. In some low-lying areas, the water could reach a height of 1 meter. The three districts were flooded after the flooded Sukhothai accelerated the pumping of water through the Yom River. The governor of Phitsunalok expects the second mass of water to reach the province within two days. Residents living along the river have been urged to bring their belongings to safety.
• The Queen donated 931 emergency kits to residents of Phrom Phiram and Rang Rakam districts on Sunday. There, 22.500 rai of farmland is under water and about a thousand households have been affected by the water.
• Minister Plodprasop Suraswadi (Science and Technology) said yesterday that the population should not fear a repeat of last year. 'There is nothing we can't handle. We have the experience. I don't think there is anything we can't manage. This year there won't be people walking through floodwater.' Deputy Prime Minister Yongyuth Wichaidit has called on the media not to exaggerate coverage of the floods. He said the situation in Sukhothai is less serious than the media suggest.

– Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung, after former Prime Minister Thaksin the most important man in the Yingluck cabinet, will hang up his lyre when the government completes its first term of 4 years. He will be 68 years old and then it will be time to say goodbye to politics. He says this in an 'exclusive' interview with Bangkok Post.

According to the newspaper, Chalerm is known for his sharp tongue, his eloquence and his entertaining contributions during so-called censure debates in the House of Representatives. 'He is always one of the highlights on the House floor.'

According to Chalerm, a change in the cabinet composition, which is speculated, is not expected in the short term because all ministers function well and no minister is associated with corrupt practices. He expects the Yingluck government to rule the country twice for 4 years.

Furthermore, Chalerm warns the 111 politicians of Thai Rak Thai, whose five-year political ban ended in May, to stop pursuing government responsibility and seek media attention. They should wait until the next election, says Chalerm.

– Disbursements from the disaster harvest fund have been messed around in 20 northeastern provinces, says the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) and that has cost the government 2 billion baht over the past 5 years. Compensation is provided from the fund for crop diseases and pests.

A quarter of the 'unusual expenses' were made in Ubon Ratchatani. Parts of the province have been declared a disaster harvest zone 329 times; 2 million baht went there in 1,24 years. However, the PACC could not find any evidence of disease and where insects attacked, the consequences were not serious enough to call it a disaster. The committee also found forged documents, exaggeration of the damage, phantom purchases of pesticides, applications by deceased persons, and so on. . The PACC is still investigating the involvement of civil servants.

– The Truth for Reconciliation Commission, set up by the previous government after the 2010 riots, today presents its final report on the political unrest in that year. The report contains recommendations and does not take sides, because not only red shirts were killed or injured in 2010, but also security personnel and innocent civilians.

One of the committee members urges all parties to read the report carefully and not to take parts of it out of context to attack political opponents. The government is called on to continue the investigation because the committee has not been able to get to the bottom of the matter. The riots in 2010 killed 92 people and injured just under 2.000.

– Fifteen, mostly business people in Pattaya have joined a network that wants to improve the city. They recently spoke to officers from the Crime Suppression Division about the "cancerous" crime level in the city. The 15 foreigners come from Denmark, France, Belgium and India. The group has Jusmag Thai, an American unit that cares for American soldiers Thailand are asked to join them.

The recent meeting discussed, among other things, the well-known scam involving jet skis. That practice has been going on for a long time. When a renter returns the jet ski, it would be damaged. So docks. The police hope to be able to bring two landlords to court. It is said that foreigners are also involved in the extortion practice.

– An unusually high number of cases of mushroom poisoning has prompted the Ministry of Health to launch a campaign with information about safe and unsafe mushrooms. Between January and May, 400 cases of poisoning were reported, 12 of which were fatal.

– The Ministry of Transport asks permission from the cabinet for the purchase of 3.138 buses for the public transport company of Bangkok. The BMTA has a heavily outdated fleet and is also heavily loss-making. The new buses, which run on NGV (natural gas), should reduce the shortage.

– Two students of a vocational training were shot dead in Bang Kapi on Saturday evening, presumably during an argument and fight with students of a rival training. The police hopes to find the perpetrators on the basis of CCTV footage.

– The current governor of Bangkok, Sukhumbhand Paribatra, will not run as an independent candidate in next year's gubernatorial elections if the Democratic party does not nominate him. If the party deems him unfit for a second term, he will respect that decision. His term expires on January 10.

Bangkok is a strong power base for the Democrats. Bangkok City Council has 61 seats; 46 are owned by the Democrats, 14 by Pheu Thai and then there is one independent council member.

www.dickvanderlugt.nl – Source: Bangkok Post