News from Thailand – February 23

After a long time, the yellow shirts stir again. The People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) threatens legal action and mass rallies if the government goes ahead with its plan to amend the constitution.

According to the PAD, the purpose of the operation is to rehabilitate fugitive Prime Minister Thaksin and to consolidate its own position of power. PAD and, coincidentally, a group of 50 senators opposing the constitutional amendment held press conferences yesterday, outlining their position.

During its election campaign, ruling party Pheu Thai promised to amend the 2007 constitution, which was drafted under military rule. Among other things, the constitution protects the coup plotters from criminal prosecution. A consequence of the law was also that Thaksin was sentenced to 2 years imprisonment for his involvement in land purchase by his then wife.

– The Secretary General of the Royal Irrigation Department has been promoted to the post of Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, a position widely regarded as an inactive post. Chalit Damrongsak is said to have made wrong predictions during last year's floods and allowed too much water to accumulate in the reservoirs, exacerbating the severity of the floods. His post will be taken by the current assistant secretary.

– Police are puzzled by the stickers with the word 'Sejeal' stuck on poles and signs along Duang Phithak road in Klong Toey (Bangkok), found in a house rented by the Iranians and one under the seat of a motorcycle. Previously, the police thought that they indicated locations for bomb attacks or escape routes. The route in question is said to have been chosen because Israeli diplomats use it on their way to the embassy.

Syedsulaiman Husaini, leader of the Sh'ite in Thailand, calls the police's suggestions nonsense because there are surveillance cameras everywhere in the area. The stickers may have been intended, he says, to harm Thai-Iranian relations. Tehran calls its missiles Sejeal, which are flints that appear in a story in the Qur'an.

– Government, think again about reintroducing a co-payment of 30 baht for patients visiting a hospital. This plea was made yesterday at a forum organized by the Thai Journalists Association. Opponents argue that the government's allegation about government hospitals' financial shortfalls is groundless. A personal contribution would be necessary because there is an increasing demand for health care.

Of the 834 government hospitals, 495 have financial problems. Between 2007 and 2011, overtime costs increased by 30 to 40 percent. At the same time, expenditure on medicines and medical equipment fell.

– Four rangers were injured yesterday morning and the pickup truck they were in was damaged when a bomb exploded near a bridge in Cho Airong district (Narathiwat). The bomb left a crater 1 meter deep and 2 meters wide. An investigation found a wire leading to another bomb in a fire extinguisher, but it was defused in time.

Yesterday also became a village defense volunteer in Nong Chik (Pattani) district, seriously injured when he was shot at by the pillion passenger of a passing motorcyclist.

In Yala, police and soldiers searched a cave shelter in Khao Yala mountain. They found dried food, instant noodles, tents, clothing and solar cells.

Two former Picnic Corp executives have been sentenced to 12 years in prison by the Supreme Court for accounting fraud and securities tampering. They earned 400 million baht. Twenty others - eight individuals and 12 companies including Picnic Corp - have previously been prosecuted for accounting fraud. The South Bangkok Criminal Court acquitted them in December 2007 for lack of evidence, but the Supreme Court handed down 5-year prison terms and fines to the companies.

– The cabinet, meeting yesterday in Udon Thani, agrees in principle with investment projects worth 620 billion baht in the Northeast. They include the construction of a high-speed line, a new railway connection, repairs to two motorways, a water management project and a feasibility study into the construction of a cable car.

– Four people went on hunger strike for 24 hours in protest against the detention of red shirt supporter Surachai Danwattananusorn, who has been in pretrial detention for a year now. They also demand that suspects charged with lèse majesté be released on bail.

– The cabinet agrees in principle with the construction of a cable car in the Phu Kradung National Park (Loei), but will allow the final decision to depend on a further study of the ecological consequences and the wishes of the population. Environmentalists oppose the cable car because it would have negative consequences for the ecology. Phu Kradung is a popular park for trekking. A cable car would also hit the porters in their pockets.

– A 43-year-old woman from Chiang Rai, who had managed to extort more than 28 million baht from about 24 people, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison. The victims invested in a company that provided loans. They would receive 3 to 10 percent interest per week. The woman must repay the money with interest at 7 percent.

– The suspicious-looking objects, which scouts on a field trip in Ayutthaya saw in the tourism office of the Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya district, turned out to be home-made bombs. Fortunately, the scouts did not arrive, but they warned their leaders. The explosives disposal service defused the bombs after the building was evacuated. Police believe the bombs were planted by students from a technical college who wanted to attack students from a rival school.

– During a raid on a house in Ratchaburi, the police shot and killed a drug suspect. Police found two guns, bullets, methamphetamine pills and ice.

In Chiang Rai, police made three arrests and seized 56.000 methamphetamine pills and 1 kilo ice seized with a street value of 500 million baht. Two other drug suspects were later arrested.

– Dusit Zoo yesterday showed a tao huato, a rare species of turtle with a large head that it cannot retract. The animal has a hooked mouth and a strong lower jaw.

– Two executive orders of the cabinet have been given the green light by the Constitutional Court. They are not against the constitution. Opposition party Democrats, which had asked for a verdict, accepts the verdict, but will continue to closely monitor the implementation.

One decision concerns loans totaling 350 billion baht for water management projects. The other decision involves transferring FIDF debt of 1,14 trillion baht (a leftover from the 1997 financial crisis) from the Ministry of Finance to the Bank of Thailand.

The business community has responded positively to the Court's ruling. However, there are concerns about whether the projects in the pipeline will be executed on time and with transparency, said Pornsil Patchritanakul, Vice Secretary General of the Board of Trade of Thailand. [Read: Without corruption involved.]

– Korn Chatikavanij, former finance minister in the Abhisit cabinet, wants to know from the government what it plans to guarantee customers' bank balances. The funds are insured by the Deposit Protection Agency (DPA), which has so far been funded by a 0,4 percent levy on commercial bank balances.

That percentage is increased to 0,47 percent, but only 0,01 percent goes to the DPA. The Bank of Thailand (BoT) uses the remainder of the levy, 0,46 percent, to pay interest on the FIDF debt transferred by the government from the Ministry of Finance to the BoT. Depending on the interest rate, 45 to 65 billion in interest must be paid annually.

FIDF debt is a holdover from the 1997 financial crisis and consists of liabilities incurred at the time to support ailing banks and financial institutions. The debt is placed in the Financial Institutions Development Fund (FIDF), an independent part of the Bank of Thailand. The bank was already responsible for paying off the principal sum.

www.dickvanderlugt.nl – Source: Bangkok Post