News from Thailand – November 10, 2012
Tourism in Krabi is hardly affected by the video clip Evil Man From Krabi, posted on YouTube by the father of the 19-year-old Dutch tourist who was raped in Ao Nang (Krabi) in July.
Police are under fire because the suspect was released on bail, but she points out that this was a court decision against her advice.
According to the Tourism Authority of Thailand is tourism still going strong in Krabi; this is contrary to what foreign media suggest. In only a small number hotels are reservations cancelled; about 10 rooms in each hotel. The average hotel occupancy is 70 percent, slightly higher than in the same period last year. Krabi has 400 hotels with 18.000 rooms.
On the website of Bangkok Post however, is a different story. President Ittirit of the Krabi Tourism Association says: “We get a lot of cancellations, especially at the higher end hotels. Most come from English tourists.'
The rape took place on July 28, but it was not until September 20 that the suspect, a tour guide, was arrested. [An explanation of why it took so long is missing from the article] The man denies. To make it clear that the police have objected to being released on bail, a video clip is made. In it, the police will assure tourists that they are doing everything they can to ensure their safety.
- Bangkok Post opens today with President Obama's November 17-20 visit to Myanmar, Thailand and Cambodia. He arrives in Thailand in the afternoon on November 18, spends the night in Bangkok and travels to Phnom Penh the next day for a meeting of the East Asia Summit. Talks are scheduled in Myanmar with President Thein Sein and Nobel Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi.
Former Obama adviser Matthew Goodman called the trip to Myanmar "potentially historic." 'For that reason it offers great opportunities as well as risks.' Exiled Myanmar activists and human rights groups say the visit is premature. The military is still dominant and involved in human rights violations. It has also failed to prevent the violent outbreak of violence in the west of the country.
During his visit to Thailand, Obama talks (obviously) with Prime Minister Yingluck. A nice side effect is that both countries have had a relationship for exactly 180 years this year. [The article doesn't say how it started.] The last time a US president visited Thailand was August 2008, when George W Bush came to visit. That was for the second time; his first visit was in 2003. Bill Clinton has also been to Thailand; he came in 1996.
– The futsal team of Thailand should be very grateful to the team of the Solomon Islands, because thanks to the island team's victory over Guatemala, Thailand, who finished third in group A, can advance to the second round. A small consolation for the fiasco that the new futsal stadium in Nong Chok (Bangkok) is not allowed to be used. Fifa doesn't think it's safe enough.
The victory of the island team came as a big surprise, as it had lost against Russia 0-16 and Columbia 3-11. It is the first time that Thailand has progressed beyond the first round. In 2000, 2004 and 2008 the team lost ingloriously in the first round. Tomorrow Thailand will play against Spain. Losing is the end of the game.
– The Minister of Commerce Boonsong Teriyapirom is not put on the rack by opposition party Democrats during her requested censor debate. The party urges Prime Minister Yingluck to put her to the test about the much-criticized rice mortgage system.
"When the minister lets others answer or only reads a pre-cooked text from paper, people will realize the leadership qualities of this prime minister," said deputy party leader Alongkorn Ponlaboot. "And if the prime minister is unable to answer the questions, the credibility of the opposition's allegations will only be confirmed."
According to Alongkorn, Yingluck is the right person to be questioned about the mortgage system, because the system is not only a matter for the Department of Commerce, but also for the Treasury and numerous committees. Democratic colleague Jurin Laksanavisit, however, gives a different explanation: the opposition does not have enough information to nail the minister to the pillory.
Sombat Thamrongthanyawong, president of the National Institute of Development Admnistration (Nida), has yet another explanation. The minister is spared because the system is popular with voters, who know full well that corruption is rampant. [But that won't matter to voters, as long as they don't suffer or benefit from it themselves.] Sombat says that academics and opposition critics, including Nida, will be chastised by those who support the system.
The censor debate will take place on 25 and 26 November.
– Opposition leader Abhisit goes to the administrative court to challenge the decision of the defense minister to strip him of his military rank. Abhisit believes that he has not been treated properly by the ministry's committee, which has investigated. That committee has established that Abhisit has evaded military service with the help of forged documents.
Abhisit says the committee has not given him the opportunity to defend himself. An invitation to interview was worded in extremely vague terms; he thinks it should have been more specific. He also accuses the government of applying double standards, because the rank of Thaksin, who was sentenced to 2 years in prison, has never been taken away from him.
For more details, see News from Thailand on November 9.
– Former army chief Chaisit Shinawatra, a cousin of Thaksin, is prepared to organize a counter-rally against the planned second rally of the anti-government group Pitak Siam. Yesterday he had gathered a bunch of military academy alumni to lecture the group's figurehead, General Boonlert Kaewprasit. He said he would stage a coup if he had the chance.
Wild allegations poured in again, such as: the Pitak rallies are funded by people engaged in inappropriate activities and: those who support Boonlert are disappointed because they have lost political advantages. "They can't win seats in parliament so they take to the streets and use General Boonlert."
Former academy student Thanu Sriyangkura called on Boonlert to step down as chairman of the alumni foundation to protect the school's reputation.
The Pitak Siam group, which said it rallied 28 people on October 20.000, is holding its second rally on November 24 or 25, presumably at the Royal Plaza because the previous venue is too small for the number of people it is counting on.
– Thailand and Cambodia have a joint tourist visa from November 21. Tourist visas obtained through the embassies of both Thailand and Cambodia are now valid upon entry into both countries.
A joint visa is a wish of Acmecs, a consultative body of Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. Thailand and Cambodia are now the first two countries to adopt it; the other countries will follow later.
Panu Kerdlappol, Head of Immigration, is concerned about transnational crime and security issues at the border, especially at the Aranyaprathet border post. Every day 4.800 Thais, 1.300 Cambodians and 1.250 foreigners pass through there. The UN has provided technology for the identification of criminals and traffickers operating internationally.
– The police on Suvarnabhumi have arrested a 51-year-old Australian who is suspected of molesting a 7-year-old boy. The man, who was known to regularly visit child porn sites, would have harassed the nephew of his friend, with whom he was staying.
– Not a life sentence, but 17 years, the Supreme Court made it and a former air force officer can spend behind bars. In 2002, he ordered his men to set fire to his maid from Myanmar. He would have stolen things from him. She was beaten and died of her burns. Two days later, her body was dumped on the side of the road.
– A temple in Surin province has made a statue of Phra Sivali, one of Buddha's disciples. That in itself is nothing special, what is special is that he holds an iPad in his hand instead of the usual walking stick. The temple wants to express that monks should keep up with the times and use the technique to spread Buddhism.
– The land deeds of 22 plots in the Khao Yai National Park in Prachin Buri have been issued illegally, the Department of Special Investigation has determined. The plots in question are owned by 'influential persons' and planted with mango, bamboo and eucalyptus. The DSI will ensure that the deeds are withdrawn.
Economic news
– Postpone raising the minimum daily wage to 300 baht for 1 month to February 1. This plea is made by the Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking. In addition, the consultative body calls for the setting up of a joint committee of representatives from the government and the private sector, which should be tasked with assessing the effectiveness of support measures for small and medium-sized enterprises. The Ministry of Employment previously proposed 27 measures to compensate for the increased burden on SMEs.
According to Tanit Sorat, vice president of the Federation of Thai Industries, SMEs will not benefit from the business tax cut next year. He calculates that the wage costs of a company with 200 employees will increase by 80 percent: from 10 million to 18 million baht. The tax reduction only provides a benefit of 400.000 to 500.000 baht. The increase cannot be achieved from the profit, because it averages 5 percent on a turnover of 40 million baht. Only large companies benefit from the reduction, says Tanit.
The only way SMEs can be helped, according to Tanit, is to give SMEs easier access to capital. Public and private banks should relax their collateral conditions.
Somsong Sachaphimuh, president of the Tourism Council of Thailand, calls for a government fund of at least 10 billion baht, which provides loans to SMEs. According to her, 90 percent of companies in the service sector need government support. “Restaurants, ticket sellers, travel agents, and bus services—these are all small businesses that need government loans,” she says.
In seven provinces, including Bangkok, the minimum daily wage was already raised to 300 baht in April. The other 70 provinces will have their turn on 1 January. This year the business tax went from 30 to 23 percent and next year it will drop further to 20 percent.
Update: The Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking may be upside down; the effective date for the increase of the minimum daily wage to 300 baht in 70 provinces remains January 1. This has been said by Minister Padermchai Sasomsap (Employment).
– Not a penny of tax money goes to the ambitious Dawei project in eastern Myanmar, says Minister Niwatthamrong Bunsongphaisan (PM's Office). The government can facilitate investment in the project and it is building a road connecting Kanchanaburi to the border. Investments in the project should be made by private industry or joint ventures of public and private companies.
Narongchai Akrasanee, a member of the Bank of Thailand's Monetary Policy Committee, says Thailand could provide loans to Myanmar to develop infrastructure, analogous to the soft loans Laos and Cambodia have received for road and airport construction. And companies can get loans from the Asian Development Bank or the Japan International Cooperation Agency.
According to the newspaper, the minister's comments contradict statements made by an adviser to Prime Minister Yingluck, who said early last month that Thailand, Myanmar and Japan would set up a "special purpose vehicle" for investment in Dawei. The Thai government could also be called upon for financial support for infrastructure projects on Dawei.
– Bangkok Airways will go public next year. The company needs money to build a new hangar, expand the fleet and upgrade IT. There are no plans to penetrate the budget market. 'LCC [low-cost carrier segment] is a different model. We prefer to focus on what we've done well for the past 44 years," said Puttipong Prasarttong-Osoth, president and son of founder Prasert, who owns 80 percent of the family business. Bangkok Airways' current fleet consists of 19 aircraft; that should be 35.
www.dickvanderlugt.nl – Source: Bangkok Post
“A nice bonus is that both countries have had a relationship for exactly 180 years this year. [The article does not mention how it started.]”
The first recorded contact between Thailand (then known as Siam) and the United States came in 1818, when an American ship Captain visited the country, bearing a letter from US President James Monroe. Thai American Chang and Eng Bunker immigrated in the early 1830s. In 1832, President Andrew Jackson sent his envoy Edmund Roberts in the US Sloop-of-war Peacock, to the courts of Cochin-China, Siam and Muscat. Roberts concluded a Treaty of Amity and Commerce on March 20, 1833, with the Chau-Phraya Phra Klang representing King Ph'ra Nang Klao; ratifications exchanged April 14, 1836; proclaimed June 24, 1837. Naval surgeon William Ruschenberger accompanied the return mission for exchange of ratifications. His account and that of Mr. Roberts were collected, edited and re-published as Two Yankee Diplomats In 1830's Siam. The 150th anniversary of Roberts' mission was marked by in 1982 by issuance of the first edition of The Eagle and the elephant : Thai-American relations since 1833, followed by multiple re-issues including a 1987 Royal Celebration edition and a 1997 Golden Jubilee edition . This was affirmed by former prime minister Samak Sundaravej, who in 2008, met George W. Bush on the “occasion of the celebration of 175th anniversary of Thai–American relations.”
Thailand is thus the first East Asian nation to have a formal diplomatic agreement with the United States; eleven years before the Great Qing and twenty-one years before Tokugawa Japan.
Source: Wikipedia
@ Fransamsterdam Thank you for your addition. Thais have the habit of always adding a year to birthdays, so that 180 years is correct.
A visa for the entire region? Not bad at all if you can "just walk through" at the border, although I assume that stamps will continue to be applied (so you can continue to do the visa runs). Speaking of visas, I sometimes wonder if this will change. Now as a foreigner you are limited to a short visa and you have to renew it again and again and after about 5 years and the necessary hassle and a lot of money you can get a permanent visa/residence permit. A medium size of, for example, a one-year visa would of course provide the necessary solution... so short, long and permanent residence (svisas).
A bit strange wording those 1.250 foreigners crossing the border between Cambodia and Thailand, I assume they mean "other nationalities" (not Thai, not Cambodian).
If the intention is to create a kind of “Shengen” visa system for these countries, there will be no stamping, or in other words only at the country of entry. You can forget about the visa runs with the van to these countries because they are useless. They will probably cause problems for many foreigners and I don't think that is the intention. We'll just have to wait and see what happens in reality. Perhaps it will become a bit clearer after November 21 when we see how things are working with Cambodia.
A 'Schengen-like' system can only work if there is completely free movement of people between the countries concerned – it does not look like that for the time being. Even under the AEC (ASEAN Economic Community), which is due to start operating in 2015, there will be no free movement of persons.
Indeed, a Schengen-like system with open borders (free movement of goods, people and services) is not possible for the time being. This will require a lot of coordination, but in the long term it is of course a good goal if labor migration can be coordinated properly (and then wage differences come into play). Then we will be a few years further, by then the visa runs will also be over because with a Schengen system a 30-90 visa will not work, of course for those who are here for more than a holiday/winter stay. The people at the top will understand that. Maybe it's very selfish of me, but I hope that in about 30 years those visa runs will no longer be necessary (unfortunately I don't see that happening in the short term). The most important thing, of course, is that ordinary citizens do not become victims of open borders, and gradually work towards this so that people become more and more economically connected and that the lower layers of the population also benefit from this through more prosperity for everyone.
I only used the expression “kind of Schengen visa” to make a kind of comparison. It can be interpreted very broadly and can go far. It could even mean free movement of visa-required persons through the countries concerned. Who knows ?
To dismiss it as “no way”, especially because little is known about it yet, is very premature, although I also share your opinion.
By the way, I regularly read that Thailand is the major obstruction in this at the AEC.
They will therefore not quickly abandon a border control, but that does not mean that there will be no general visa for all those countries.
Instead of, as now, the visa ending as soon as you cross a country border, it may now just continue regardless of which country you are in.
This is of course not good news for visa runners, because you cannot get a new visa in those countries because you are already traveling on a valid visa.
Driving away the long-stayers is probably not their intention, so something will take their place. I can't think of anything right away, but perhaps the normal tourist visa will be extended to 90 days. Who knows ?