News from Thailand – October 12, 2014

The Ministry of Transport is studying the possibility of raising three bridges over the Chao Phraya to facilitate the passage of shipping traffic during the rainy season. These are the Memorial bridge, Krung Thon bridge and Nonthaburi bridge.

The vertical clearance should be at least 5,6 metres, but at high water levels it is 4,7 metres, 5,1 meters and 5,3 meters respectively. This causes problems for passenger and cargo boats. The shipping companies have complained about this.

Whether it will ever happen remains to be seen, because the three bridges have historical value, says the director-general of the Marine Department, who has been asked to conduct the investigation together with the municipality of Bangkok. This is especially true for the Memorial bridge, the lowest of the three. Demolition is out of the question, he says. Other options should be studied, such as forcing unladen ships to load ballast so that they protrude less high.

In the photo one of three bridges, but the caption doesn't mention which one.

– The police deny that the two Myanmarese suspected of the double murder on Koh Tao have withdrawn their confessions. A rumor, says research leader Praween Pongsirin in response to a message on the website of the Democratic Voice of Burma. It quotes a lawyer from the Myanmar embassy as saying that the suspects have been tortured and that they feel they are being scapegoats.

The police also deny that the Public Prosecution Service rejected the investigation report as incomplete, although the police have been asked by the Public Prosecution Service to provide more evidence. According to the director general of Regional Prosecution 8, there are holes in the 300-page police file, but he does not want to comment further. He confirms that the report has not been rejected.

The two suspects, who are imprisoned in Koh Samui District Jail, are being watched closely for fear that they may commit suicide. Prison guards and other detainees would have been instructed to do so. The suspects would show signs of stress. Their food is closely monitored. [Source missing for all these claims.]

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-ocha was confronted by protesters demanding a fair trial during his visit to Myanmar last week. Demonstrations were also held at the Thai embassy in Japan.

In England, family and friends said goodbye to Hannah Witheridge on Friday. The parents had asked people to dress "brightly" for what they called "Hannah's Party." The village church in Hemsby, Norfolk, was packed, and outside, another fifty villagers listened to the funeral through loudspeakers.

More news in: Parents Nick Pearson: Our son was also killed on Koh Tao

– A former lawyer of former Prime Minister Yingluck and now a member of the recently formed National Reform Council (NRC) believes that politics should get a better grip on the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC). His plea immediately provoked protests from the Democrats. The legal team of the former opposition party says this amounts to intimidation.

Bancha Poramisanaporn threw the bat in the box on Friday when he reported to the NRC, the body that must make reform proposals on the basis of which the new constitution can be written. He proposes the formation of a committee, composed of members of the House of Representatives and the Senate [now defunct], to investigate complaints of unfair treatment by the NACC and to file charges with the Supreme Court. At present, the committee can only be accused of defamation in the event of complaints.

The NACC is under fire from former governing party Pheu Thai and the Red Shirts for accusing former Prime Minister Yingluck of negligence as chair of the National Rice Policy Committee. She would have done nothing against the corruption in the rice mortgage system and against the skyrocketing costs.

The NACC, which previously received no response from the OM, is now trying to provoke impeachment proceedings against Yingluck through the NRC. There is a legal battle about this because the constitution of 2007 has been rendered inoperative.

Bancha has already crossed swords with the NACC once when he wanted extra witnesses to appear at the NACC. He now denies accusing the NACC over the impeachment attempt. Wirat Kallayasiri, a member of the Democrats' legal team, does not expect Bancha's proposal to get the hands of the NRC.

– It was not a political rally, but a tribute to the late red shirt leader Apiwan Wiriyachai, whose body arrived at Suvarnabhui from the Philippines yesterday. While hundreds of officers guarded all entrances to the airport, the red shirts chanted outside Naksu Thulee Din (Dirt Fighter) to remember Apiwan who fled after May 22, the day of the coup.

Apiwan, former deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, died of a lung infection on October 6. He was 65 years old. The body was taken to Wat Bang Phai in Nonthaburi for the funeral rituals (photo home page). They last seven days. Today, former Prime Minister Yingluck would pay his last respects to the deceased. The cremation will take place on October 19.

– Princess Chulabhorn, who was admitted to Vichaiyut Hospital in Bangkok on September 4, was allowed to go home yesterday, but doctors have advised her to take it easy for three months. The princess has been treated for stomach and pancreatic infections.

– 53 Rohingya migrants and two alleged Thai traffickers were arrested yesterday in a rubber plantation in Takua Pa (Phangnga). They were on their way to Malaysia. The migrants were from Rakhine State in Myanmar and Bangladesh. Twelve managed to run away during the arrest. Thousands of Rohingya, a Muslim minority group, have fled Rakhine since 2012 because of persecution. Usually they go to Malaysia via Thailand.

– A coffee shop as a weapon against corruption. You just have to get on it and that's what the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), True Coffee and the Anti-Corruption Organization of Thailand did. The universities of Khon Kaen and Ubon Ratchathani will have such a coffee shop on their campus next year. The intention is that students discuss while drinking a nice cup of coffee, exchange opinions and come up with fun anti-corruption plans and activities.

True Coffee finances the shops of 200 square meters and receives 60 percent of the turnover. The remainder is used to finance anti-corruption activities. When the investment is earned back, the entire turnover goes to this goal. The cafes are staffed by students. True Coffee wants to open ten cafes every year.

The UNDP and the NGO Integrity Action are also developing a curriculum on integrity and the fight against corruption. Both universities will take over.

– The Ministry of Industry is about to approve 70 permits for gold exploration. That hasn't happened since 2007. That year, the Office of the National and Social Development Board launched an investigation in response to complaints from villagers about pollution from gold mines. In 2009, the then government commissioned the ministry to develop new policy based on this research.

A working group is now putting the last dots on the i. The mining companies are obliged to pay a higher financial contribution to the government and local communities. This means that a compensation fund is formed for each village in an affected area. They also have to pay royalties, according to a sliding scale based on the Thai gold price.

The industry minister is also under fire for having served on the board of directors of Thailand's largest gold mining company, Akra Resources. A group of villagers filed a conflict of interest complaint with the National Anti-Corruption Commission.

www.dickvanderlugt.nl – Source: Bangkok Post

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Parents Nick Pearson: Our son was also killed on Koh Tao