News from Thailand – December 11, 2014

The Dutch stilt walker group Saurus will perform this weekend during the long-awaited return of the 'Bangkok Street Show'. From Friday to Sunday they bring gigantic prehistoric beasts to life.

The fifth edition of the festival features all kinds of performances and acts, such as mime, clowning, juggling, magic, acrobatics, folding balloons, contortions [?], fire eating and sword swallowing. Forty groups from eighteen countries perform daily from 15 to 21 pm in the Lumpini park (MRT station Silom). Free entrance.

– While dozens of Thai fishermen were previously exploited on Thai trawlers in Indonesian waters, the newspaper now speaks of hundreds on the authority of Patima Tangpratyakun of the Seafarers Action Center (SAC). She says that they fled to Ambon, among other things, to be relieved of the hardships on the trawlers.

The SAC, the Labor Rights Promotion Network and government officials have been trying to get them home since October. Patima believes the government should hurry as there are reports that some are on the brink of death because of the harsh conditions on the island.

Indonesian police and villagers are trying to locate them, but Thai authorities are not doing much about it, says Patima. A problem is that their ID and seaman's book are missing because the skippers have taken them. Therefore, it cannot be proven that they are Thai. Furthermore, some seaman's books are forged or belong to someone else.

So far, 28 fishermen have been rescued and repatriated. Ten arrived on Don Mueang on Tuesday evening. They came from Ambon and were interrogated upon arrival by staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and of Social Development and Human Security.

– The security of the US embassy and the police surveillance in tourist hotspots in Bangkok following a warning from the US State Department that protests are likely over a Senate report on alleged CIA practices in Thailand. According to that report, the CIA has been brutally interrogating suspects of terrorism.

So far it remains quiet in those places, says Chantawit Ramasut, deputy chief of the municipal police. "We have not yet encountered a situation that could lead to protests or unrest." Police stations have been ordered to step up their surveillance in high-risk places such as Khao San Road, Soi Nana and Sathon.

The US embassies in Thailand, Afghanistan and Pakistan have urged their citizens to exercise caution and take necessary precautions. They should avoid demonstrations and confrontational situations. Those three countries mentioned would have hosted the CIA. Prisoners were interrogated and tortured, the report said. Data on the involvement of the Thaksin government, the National Security Agency and the military have been omitted.

– In the event of electoral fraud, the Electoral Council can issue a yellow and a red card. In the first case, a candidate who has gone wrong is allowed to run for re-election; this is not allowed with the red card. The National Reform Council's Committee on Law and Justice (which is supposed to propose reforms) wants to remove that power and place it with the courts.

According to the committee, the Electoral Council has too much power over the elections, as a result of which its credibility and neutrality are at stake. The Electoral Council should only be responsible for the elections and the collection of evidence of violations of the Electoral Act.

Anyone interested in all the committee's proposals can find them in the article Strip EC of right to ban, panel says on the website of Bangkok Post.

– Yesterday was International Human Rights Day and on the occasion hundreds of villagers and activists from the Northeast informed foreign diplomats about their grievances. They met them at the International Academic Human Rights Conference and the Seventh Annual Isan Human Rights Festival in Khon Kaen.

The conference-goers asked the ambassadors of England, Canada and New Zealand and envoys from the US, Sweden and the EU mission in Bangkok to tell Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to restore the rights of Thais 'stolen' by the army .

A Thai Landless Villager's Network coordinator in Sakon Nakhon said soldiers stopped many poor people from returning to the Phua Phan mountains where they lived. Another opened up about the conflicts between the villagers in Wang Saphung and a gold mine. Despite rising tensions, they received no help from the military authorities.

– Another arrest in the corruption scandal involving prime suspect Pongpat Chayaphan, former head of the Central Investigation Bureau. Police arrested the wife of the former head of Immigration Police in Samut Sakhon yesterday. She is charged with lèse majesté and squatting public land.

The woman had previously been arrested, but was released on bail on November 24. At the time, the police could not pin her on lèse-majesté, but now they can. Suspects accused of such are never released on bail.

– Three soldiers were injured yesterday during a patrol of eight men in Rueso (Narathiwat) when a roadside bomb exploded. The bomb created a crater with a radius of one meter. The unit was returning to their camp after escorting forensic officers to a car accident.

– A prime minister elected by the population is a bad idea, says party leader Abhisit (Democrats). Such an election will not solve the problem of politicians abusing their power. The prime minister would also have more power than a prime minister elected by parliament. And that opens up opportunities for him to abuse his power, creating additional political problems.

The proposal criticized by Abhisit comes from a committee of the National Reform Council (which must propose national reforms). Not only the prime minister but also the cabinet members should be elected by the people. The proposal immediately drew criticism.

The article further consists of rehashing old news, so I will skip that. Anyone interested can read it all in Direct-elected PM a bad idea, Abhisit warns on the website of Bangkok Post.

– The lawyers of the two guest workers from Myanmar, who are suspected of the murder of two British tourists on the holiday island of Koh Tao, have to work under high tension because the court has moved the next hearing from February 25 to December 25 and before that date, the defense is expected to submit its plea.

The Koh Samui Provincial Court decided to speed up the process because it has received great attention worldwide. And also in this article the entire prehistory is extensively chewed again. Yes, that's how I can fill the newspaper too.

– The construction of the influenza vaccine factory in Kaeng Koi (Saraburi) will resume. The Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO) has received permission for this from the cabinet. Trials are expected to start in early 2018. Construction was halted in 2009 due to corruption. According to the plan, it should have been there in 2011.

The GPO is supervised in its construction and design by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Japanese experts. This is necessary because vaccine production is complicated and requires high technology.

Economic news

– Although Thailand has risen one point on the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), the judicial process in corruption cases is far too slow. “The delays mean that corrupt people are not afraid. Large sums of money have flowed into the pockets of a handful of people instead of being used to develop the country," said Pramon Sutivong, president of the (private) Anti-Corruption Organization of Thailand (ACT).

Those delays are not bad. Sometimes it takes the National Anti-Corruption Commission two to five years before a decision is made whether to file a complaint, the Public Prosecution Service takes another one to two years and when three courts deal with the case, the entire legal process extends to six up to eight years.

In cases involving politicians, it takes a year for the Supreme Court's Holders of Political Positions Division to make a decision. The overview below speaks volumes.

The secretary-general of the Thai Bankers' Association fears Thailand's position on the CPI could deteriorate again if the country fails to root out corruption. “We have to catch the big fish to show people that corruption has consequences,” he says. He as well as the ACT believe that anti-corruption policies should be included in the new constitution. The government should shorten the legal process by scrapping the 'prescription period', but I don't understand what that means.

www.dickvanderlugt.nl – Source: Bangkok Post

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