News from Thailand – June 30, 2012
The misuse of images of the Buddha is a thorn in the side of the Knowing Buddha Foundation.
Tonight she demonstrates in Khao San Road in Bangkok in protest against tattoos with the image of Buddha, images on furniture and in logos. The absolute low point is a local nightclub called Buddha Bar.
– A 36-year-old British man was stabbed with a knife by a bus conductor in Samut Sakhon. The man had left the bus, but returned to collect his bag that he had forgotten. The two got into a fight because the bag had been opened and the contents stolen. According to the conductor, the owner of the bus, who was riding along, had done so. The police arrested the conductor and the driver of the bus, who had both fled after the incident. The bus owner is still on the run.
– A vocational school student was seriously injured and two others suffered minor injuries after students from another school, riding a motorcycle, attacked them with a knife. Earlier this month, police arrested current and former vocational students on suspicion of a shooting that left two people dead. Fights between vocational students are a regular occurrence Thailand.
– Exports to Europe are starting to fall as a result of the crisis in the eurozone. The number of orders from the US and China is also falling. The export of textiles, electronics, rubber and jewelery is particularly vulnerable. Exporters are struggling with delayed payments and slow orders.
In the first five months of this year, exports fell by 1,5 percent on an annual basis. Although exports rose by 8 percent in May, Prasarn Trairatvorakul, governor of the Bank of Thailand, suspects that this was a temporary upswing.
To prepare for the future, the cabinet held an extra meeting on Wednesday. The ministers of the economic triangle have been instructed to keep a close eye on the 2.000 companies in the textile and electronics sector. Vice Prime Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong will soon meet with the trade attachés of 43 countries and Prime Minister Yingluck with exporters.
– In the province of Lampang, 10.000 employees in the ceramics industry are at risk of losing their jobs as a result of the crisis in the eurozone. Europe is the most important market for this industry branch. Earlier this month, a large ceramics factory closed its doors, leaving 3.000 workers on the street. More than 20 large companies are facing liquidity problems. Two of them have already stopped. Three problems coincide: higher fuel costs, decreasing exports and increased labor costs due to the increase in the minimum wage.
Lampang has 200 ceramic factories; exports account for 3 billion baht. The province's timber industry could also be affected by the crisis, said Supranee Siriarbhanont, president of the Lampang branch of the Federation of Thai Industries.
– The Bangkok police has arrested 5 suspects in an operation of 586 days and seized 234 firearms. But the Commissioner is not yet satisfied. Given the size of Bangkok, the harvest should have been bigger, he says.
– The international pharmaceutical company Novartis will collaborate with the French drug manufacturer Sanofi in an attempt to develop a vaccine against AIDS. Shark liver oil is used as a strengthening agent. The vaccine will be tested on test subjects next year or early 2014. According to the director of the US Military HIV Research Program, which is participating in the project, the trial has a good chance of success. Previous attempts by Sanofi, Vax-Gen Inc and Merck & Co have failed. In 2009, Sanofi's Alvac vaccine was shown to reduce HIV infections by 31 percent in 3 years in combination with another vaccine. Efficacy reached 60 percent the first year, but declined rapidly thereafter. Novartis hopes that the addition of the liver oil will make the vaccine more potent.
– The scheme introduced on April 1 for free emergency care in both government and private hospitals appears to favor private hospitals, says a board member of the National Health Security Office. When a patient cannot be transferred to their own hospital within 24 hours, they can claim the treatment costs from one of the three health insurance companies and that reimbursement is higher than the government hospitals get. The fee for the first 24 hours is a maximum of 10.500 baht for both government and private hospitals, according to the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Health.
– An area with a radius of 200 meters around the ammunition depot of the eleventh Border Patrol Police Command in Chanthaburi has been cordoned off after a series of explosions and a fire on Tuesday evening. The homes of agents and a pickup truck were destroyed. Three non-commissioned officers were wounded. Firefighters had the fire under control within 30 minutes. The depot contains ammunition found along the border with Cambodia. A spontaneous explosion may have occurred or the ammunition may have overheated.
- Nonsense. This is how the army reacts to the report that deputy army commander Dapong Rattanasuwan is involved in a plot to overthrow the government. Co-Red Shirt leader Kwanchai Praipana had claimed so. In an interview he said that a number of malicious people in one hotels gathered in Nakhon Ratchasima to plan a coup. Kwanchai also said an attempt is imminent to strip the 416 MPs of ruling party Pheu Thai of their status.
– More nonsense. Education Minister Suchart Thada-Thamrongvech has claimed that the Yingluck government has not long to go. Deputy Prime Minister Yongyuth Wichaidit suspects that his colleague said that because he is afraid of having to leave the field at the next cabinet change. But Suchart thinks that claim is nonsense.
– The Anti-Corruption Network Alliance (set up in 2011 by the late chairman Dusit Nantanakorn of the Thai Chamber of Commerce) has uncovered two cases of corruption in flood control projects. In Phak Hai (Ayutthaya) a road worth 100 million baht was built, but the Royal Irrigation Department went beyond its limits. And in Chiang Mai there was an unfair tender for dredging work in the Ping River. The alliance says that dredging is particularly susceptible to corruption because control is poor. The two projects are among 10 projects, which the alliance questions.
– The Thai contracting company Ch Karnchang is already busy with work for the construction of the controversial Xayaburi dam in Laos. Dredging is already underway, a concrete wall is being erected and the residents of one village have already been relocated elsewhere. The company claims that it is only preparatory work. The California-based organization International Rivers accuses the company of neglecting diplomatic talks about the future of the Mekong.
– Is the black orchid, nicknamed Dracula, used in the production of methamphetamine? Myanmar's United Wa State Army (USWA) rebel group recently bought the flower in bulk from northern Thailand, raising the suspicions of the Narcotics Control Board office. The USWA is known to have ties to drug manufacturing.
It is suspected that the orchid can be used as a substitute for pseudoephedrine in the production of methamphetamine. Pseudoephedrine-containing pills are currently being intensively hunted by the Thai police. According to Professor Rapee Sagarik, a well-known orchid expert, the flower contains alkaloids, a component used in painkillers. But he is not sure if the orchid can be used in drug production.
The narcotics bureau hopes to be able to serve clear wine within a week.
– The Anti-Money Laundering Office will set stricter requirements for opening a bank account to prevent money laundering. Now it happens that an account holder claims to be a student, even though millions of baht are in his account. From 21 August, banks must conduct a thorough investigation into the identity of the new account holder. The stricter requirements come in response to findings from the Financial Action Task Forse, an intergovernmental organization. It considers Thailand a high-risk country in the field of money laundering. Since last month, foreigners who want to open an account with Siam Commercial Bank have to submit a work permit.
– Although the climate study by Nasa has been called off, Prime Minister Yingluck still wants to have the study discussed by parliament in August. But the government speaks with two tongues, because Deputy Prime Minister Yutthasak Sasiprapa no longer thinks that is necessary. He only thinks it makes sense if Nasa were to submit an application again.
Nasa scrapped the study because it wanted to get permission by Tuesday to use U-Tapao Naval Air Base for a climate study in August and September. However, under pressure from protests (including from the opposition), the cabinet decided to pass on NASA's application to parliament.
In the background of this soap opera is the fear of violation of article 190 of the constitution. According to this article, agreements of national importance or affecting the sovereignty of the country must be dealt with by parliament. Former Foreign Minister Noppadon Patama calls this article a 'landmine' because it is very broadly worded and the interpretation of the Constitutional Court is unpredictable. Noppadon himself had to resign at the time after he signed a communiqué with Cambodia about Cambodia's application for Unesco heritage status for Hindu temple Preah Vihear without consulting parliament.
– There is considerable squabbling about the four reconciliation bills that are being discussed in parliament. The Speaker of the House of Representatives has proposed that the petitioners withdraw them to allow the public to discuss them. One of the petitioners, General Sonthi Boonyaratglin, leader of the coalition party Mathubhum and leader of the military coup of 2006, is not in favor of this, unless opinion polls and forums show that the population is in favour.
According to Prime Minister Yingluck, parliament, which will not meet again until August, should decide on a possible withdrawal. She is not sure that withdrawal will help ease political tensions. Opponents of the bills see them as a disguised attempt to have fugitive Prime Minister Thaksin pardoned from his 2-year prison sentence.
www.dickvanderlugt.nl – Source: Bangkok Post