News from Thailand – September 10, 2013

Opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva has made himself unpopular with the women's movement for a remark about 'stupid women', and some say he was referring to Prime Minister Yingluck. Abhisit denies that he was talking about any particular woman.

Abhisit (photo homepage) made the offending remark during a rally on Saturday. He spoke about the launch of the 'Smart Lady Thailand' reality show by Prime Minister Yingluck. [The article does not give any information about that show.] Abhisit said: If there was a stupid women's contest, no one would dare to compete with Prime Minister Yingluck.

Suranand Vejjajiva, Secretary General of the Prime Minister, who is on a mission in Europe with her, has jumped into the breach for his mistress and warns Abhisit in an email to better watch his words. The project aims to develop women's leadership, he explains, and to encourage the Thai people to admire the beauty of women through their intelligence. “As far as I know, the [Abhisit Democrats] party has done nothing. She just makes disparaging remarks and looks down on women," said Suranand.

Abhisit also gets the wind from women's networks. Watcharaporn Intawong (Phayao Women's Network) believes that a man who was previously head of government should not make offensive remarks about women. Charoensri Chaikat (also Phayao): 'A leader should be careful what he says. Everyone has his or her dignity. If we don't respect others, it's hard for us to be respected.”

– The rubber farmers will receive an extra shower: the subsidy per rai will increase from 1.260 to 2.520 baht. With this decision, the National Rubber Policy Committee is trying to prevent further blockades by rubber farmers. The NRPC, on the other hand, does not agree with the 90 baht per kilo unsmoked rubber sheets, which was agreed on Friday during consultations between government representatives and farmers. Statement by Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong (Finance): The increase to 90 baht would amount to price intervention. The subsidy per rai goes to the owners of the plantations. A maximum of 25 rai is subsidized. It is estimated to cost the government 21,2 billion baht.

Today, farmers are gathering in Surat Thani to discuss the planned protest on Saturday. Coordinator Manoon Upala says they are likely to block roads and occupy County Halls. He called the doubling of the subsidy instead of the price guarantee of 90 kilos 'an act of betrayal'. Farmers in the southern provinces will meet within two days to discuss possible actions.

The chief of the national police says it is impossible not to prosecute protest leaders for the roadblocks of the past two weeks. This demand was made by the protesters.

– Prior to her speech to the 24th meeting of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva [many nice words about democracy] Prime Minister Yingluck asked High Commissioner Navi Pillay to communicate directly with the government on the amnesty issue [read: You should not have issued a press statement .] because the matter is 'sensitive and can easily be exploited for political gain'.

Yingluck has explained that the amnesty proposal does not aim at amnestying everyone involved in political conflicts. Those who have committed criminal offenses or human rights violations will face justice, Yingluck said.

– The Yingluck government acts in violation of the constitution by not informing parliament annually about its work. Since the government took office two years ago, it has failed to submit an annual report. So says Wasant Soypisudh, former president of the Constitutional Court.

Chamber Speaker Somsak Kiatsuranont and the Prime Minister's Office say the 2011 annual report is in preparation; documents on government work were already submitted to parliament last November. A debate on this has not yet taken place, according to a spokesman for the office, because parliament has its hands full with the proposals to amend the constitution. According to the spokesman, the constitution does not specify a deadline for the annual report.

Wasant had even more on his mind on Sunday. The mortgage system for rice may also violate the constitution, as the constitution supports free trade and prohibits monopolies. So far, the government monopolizes the rice trade, making it difficult for some millers to trade. Wasant also questioned whether the government has borrowed money in time for the planned 350 billion baht waterworks.

– Not seven hospitals, as previously reported, but only the Makarak hospital in Kanchanaburi has received wrong medicines, says the Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO). Last week, the GPO announced that a heart-disease drug had been put in the packaging of a high blood pressure drug.

The wrong drug went to 939 patients. The hospital has been able to retrieve the drug from 591 patients. The others will follow this week.

According to GPO chairman Pipat Yingseree, no patient has been adversely affected by the switch. The GPO has suspended production of the drugs and will from now on produce them at different times and give the pills a different shape.

– The Mae Wong dam in Mae Wong National Park (Kamphaeng Phet) is not allowed to be built and therefore opponents are starting a 300-kilometer march to Bangkok today. It ends on September 22 at the Bangkok Art and Culture Center.

The march is now taking place as the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning has completed its environmental and health impact assessment and will submit it to the National Environment Board for approval.

The opponents reject the report. It does not contain information about the ecological systems in the area and the impact on the population. Evidence that the dam generates social and economic benefits is lacking.

The Mae Wong dam will cost 13.260 rai of forest. The area is part of the Thungyai-Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuaries, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Mae Wong is one of the tiger's last habitats. According to academics, building the dam will not solve the flood problems, which is the argument for the construction.

– A group of 43 teachers from Ubon Ratchathani calls on colleagues to ask the Ministry of Education to exclude the controversial temple Wat Phra Dhammakaya (of the jet-set monk) and temples associated with it from the training program they must follow. The group of 43 refused to participate in the program from August 28 to September 2 because it was scheduled in such a temple.

The training program is compulsory reading for 72.507 teachers and school leaders of 2.628 schools and education officials. It aims to upskill the participants morally and ethically and raise their emotional quotient, said the Office of the Basic Education Commission, which organizes the program in conjunction with the Sangha Supreme Council, the National Office of Buddhism and the Department of Local Administration.

Not only does Thai education have an 'abnormally low' quality compared to other ASEAN countries (quote from the recently published WEF report), but student scores have been declining year after year, said Surin Pitsuwan, former secretary-general general of Asean. Thai education is in crisis, he says, and efforts to improve it since 1999 have had no effect.

Surin believes that the key to improvement lies in English language teaching. When students have access to English-language resources, teachers are forced to prepare better and the traditional classroom is transformed into a seminar where active knowledge exchange takes place. In addition, he points out that English is the language of business in Asean. "But Thai youth are lagging behind in this increasingly important means of communication in Asean."

– The younger brother Suri of the controversial ex-monk Wirapol Sukphol has retracted his claim that he is the man in a photo in which a man lies next to a woman. Wirapol is widely believed to be the man; Suri now admits to lying about this in July.

Suri has also claimed that he is the father of an 11-year-old boy, fathered by the monk when the mother was 14 years old. DNA research has now shown that Surin also lied about this. Surin reported yesterday to the Department of Special Investigation, which had summoned him for questioning about his alleged paternity.

– The House of Representatives had reduced the budget from 5 baht to 3 baht, the Senate made it 5 baht and a joint committee made it 3 baht again. The Senate yesterday gave the green light to a new consumer protection organization, which is subsidized at 3 baht per capita, a total of 200 million baht.

– State Councilor Prem Tinsulanonda, president of the Privy Council, is discharged from hospital today. He was operated on for an inflamed lung. A scar, left over from a previous operation, had become inflamed.

– The construction of the new parliament building has been delayed, because the land is only half available to the contractor. Since June 8, only 0,34 percent of work has been done and it should have been 3,84 percent. The land whose transfer has been delayed belonged to a school, the Army Transport School and the Water Transport Company.

– The director of the district hospital of Uthumphon Phisai took his own life. The police still have no idea what led him to that act. His body was found yesterday by hospital staff after repeated attempts to contact him failed.

– A bridge on the road between Chiang Mai and Mae Sariang (Mae Hong Son) was damaged by a water stream yesterday morning. Car traffic is no longer possible. Repair work has already started.

Political news

– Weekend meetings of parliament are now out of the question, government whips have decided. The decision follows the adjournment of Saturday's meeting due to a lack of quorum. The absentees say they only heard on Friday that a meeting would be held the next day, but they already had appointments in their constituency.

According to a source at ruling party Pheu Thai, the absentees will not be punished with exclusion from a subsequent election. That was no more than a threat, the purpose of which was to ensure that they attend meetings.

Economic news

– The Ministry of Finance will grant licenses to non-financial institutions to charge interest rates higher than 15 percent. The ministry wants to take the wind out of the sails of money loan sharks. Only institutions that provide microcredit are eligible for the new scheme, because this type of credit is intended to help individuals set up, expand, improve, etc. small businesses. Microcredit loans are granted for amounts ranging from 30.000 to 100.000 baht.

Until now, only financial institutions are allowed to charge interest rates higher than 15 percent, but they rarely grant credit to small entrepreneurs, street vendors and market vendors, because their creditworthiness cannot be determined. That group poses too great a risk. The result is that they are in the hands of loan sharks be driven. The new regulation is expected to come into force this year.

– The Sampran Riverside hotel, formerly known as Rose Garden Riverside, is increasingly going on an eco-tour. Located 30 kilometers west of Bangkok, the hotel has been monitoring changing tourism trends for 50 years.

The resort has a Thai village, a temple 'fair', organic rice fields, it offers cultural demonstrations and organizes festivals with Songkran and Loy Kratong. The local population is involved in the development of organic rice cultivation. This also applies to the Sookjai weekend market, which attracts 600 visitors a day.

The resort is going to convert the 160 Thai-style houses that stand by an artificial lake into a premium guesthouse. The rooms are now used for spa services. The spa is moving to a four-star hotel with XNUMX rooms.

www.dickvanderlugt.nl – Source: Bangkok Post