News from Thailand – July 14, 2012

Airport or Thailand (AoT) is beginning to see the urgency of the third runway planned at the opening of Suvarnabhumi. Increasing congestion and some recent incidents, such as the subsidence of the western runway and radar outage, have put pressure on the situation.

Without specifying a deadline, the Minister of Transport has instructed AoT to construct the new runway as soon as possible. AoT thinks it will be there in 2018, about the same time when the expansion of the terminal is ready.

Suvarnabhumi has been handling more passengers for 2 years than the 45 million it was designed for. When the expansion is complete, that number will be 60 million. With the third runway, BKK can handle 88 departing and landing aircraft per hour, 12 more than with the current two runways. The 400m track will be built parallel to Kingkaew Road. The cost is 7,8 billion baht, including compensation to 4.000 households affected by the construction.

The BKK manager admits that while the third runway provides little relief, air traffic does benefit when another runway is closed for maintenance. Since June 11, the eastern runway has been out of service for maintenance.

– Bangkok Post is very concerned about food safety. Thailand imports more than 100.000 tons of chemical insecticides and pesticides annually at a cost of 18 billion baht. In the July 13 editorial, she points out that fruits and vegetables for sale at local markets often contain too high a concentration of chemicals.

Most recently, the Foundation for Consumers reported that it had found traces of two cancer-causing pesticides on several vegetables sold in large supermarkets in Bangkok. The foundation has called on the Ministry of Agriculture to ban and no longer register the use of four pesticides: methomyl, carbofuran, dicrothopos and EPN.

According to the newspaper, pesticide poisoning is widespread. The Health Systems Research Institute estimates that 200.000 to 400.000 people fall ill each year as a result. And the paper links the dramatic rise in agrochemical use to the rise in cancer, diabetes and high blood pressure.

Thailand was there like the chickens when the EU threatened with an import ban because vegetables are out Thailand contain too high concentrations of toxic residues. Prompt measures were taken to prevent a ban. But such a strict approach is lacking at home, the newspaper cynically states.

– The Cambodian commander on the ground says his soldiers fired 18 times at a Bangkok Airways plane, but Phnom Penh and the airline deny the incident. The Minister of Defense and Prime Minister Yingluck leave it at that, because evidence such as damage to the plane is lacking.

Aviation experts and experienced pilots [the newspaper does not name] believe that all flights to Cambodia should be suspended until the matter is clear and resolved. They call the actions of the soldiers 'outrageous'. If the soldiers thought it was a spy plane, they should have first established the identity and alerted the pilot, which is international practice.

The aircraft ran into heavy weather on its way to Siem Reap, forcing it to turn back. [According to an earlier report it had deviated from the fixed course, but reached Siem Raep. Bangkok Post corrects the report that Bangkok Airways is the only commercial airline that flies to Cambodia. It was meant on Siem Raep.]

– On Wednesday it is exactly one year ago that the International Court of Justice established a demilitarized zone around Hindu temple Preah Vihear and ordered Thailand and Cambodia to withdraw their troops. Cambodia will withdraw 480 soldiers from the area on Wednesday, the Cambodian defense minister has said, according to Thailand's foreign minister.

The defense minister, who along with Prime Minister Yingluck met with Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen, says both countries will simultaneously withdraw troops and replace them with border police. But he could not give a time for that.

– The army continues to use the GT200 in southern Thailand, despite doubts about the effectiveness of the bomb detector and despite reports of a similar detector, the ADE651, which works on the same principle and is equally ineffective. This is what army commander Prayuth Chan-ocha says. A man in England is being prosecuted for fraud for its production and distribution.

– Prime Minister Yingluck did nothing wrong by holding a meeting with businessmen at the Four Seasons in February hotels to attend in Bangkok and to miss part of a parliamentary meeting, the Ombudsman has established after an inquiry. A businesswoman and a former yellow shirt supporter, among others, had asked the Ombudsman for the investigation.

The Ombudsman accepts Yingluck's statement that her presence was not required in view of the issues raised. Prove that the appointment is in the hotels served to favor certain groups, the Ombudsman was unable to find.

– Between 1992 and 2012, the Stock Exchange of Thailand had to deal with 120 corruption cases. Only in 7 percent of the cases did this lead to a punishment. The other cases have been dropped or are still pending. This was announced by Chairman Chaikasem Nitisiri, Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), during a seminar yesterday.

The cases include insider trading, stock manipulation and false statements. 287 persons have been charged with corruption: 115 related to their management and 104 for manipulation of stock prices.

– 2.295 schools of the 7.985 schools surveyed so far do not meet the quality requirements of the National Education Standards and Quality Assessment (Onesqa). Most underperforming schools are small and located in remote areas.

The quality survey takes place once every 5 years on the basis of 12 indicators, including the performance of the pupils and the role of the school in stimulating further education.

This year, 34.040 schools will go through the mill. Of the schools now surveyed, 333 received the qualification excellent and 5.357 a pass.

Onesqa has also published figures from its research into vocational training and universities. Of the 807 vocational training courses, 179 have been studied so far. Twenty scored unsatisfactory. There were no failing grades at the universities. 47 of the 72 were examined; 2 received a conditional pass.

Director Channarong Pornrungroj notes that the universities must quickly bring the knowledge of their lecturers up to standard. Of the 56.978 lecturers, 38.238 (67 percent) have too little academic experience, he says.

– Yesterday a joint exercise of army, navy and air force ended with a landing on Hat Yao Beach in Chon Buri. The aircraft carrier HTMS Chakri Naruebet acted as the command center. The exercise started in April.

– Heavy rain in Laem Sing district (Chantaburi) caused significant damage to 40 houses, orchards and shrimp farms on Thursday evening. The stir caused a destructive stream of water from Mount Sabab. Had dredging work on a canal downstream been completed, it would not have happened, the provincial Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department says.

In the same province, Soi Dao district is suffering from drought. More than 200 rai of maize and other crops have withered.

– A 35-year-old transvestite fell under a bus during rush hour on Phra Athit Road yesterday and died. A drunk man had pushed him when he tried to steal his bag of food and snacks. The perpetrator is a drifter with mental problems, according to the police.

– The US is deep in its pockets. Under the Lower Mekong Initiative Vision 2020 program (LMI), Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam will receive US$3 million over the next 50 years to spend on social development and environmental issues. The LMI was launched in Phuket in 2008. The US is also giving US$1 million to the intergovernmental Mekong River Commission (MRC) and US$2 million to the MRC's fisheries program.

– A team of Thai doctors is going to Cambodia to help fight HFMD (foot and mouth disease), although Phnom Penh has not asked for it. An aggressive variant of the HFMD virus, the Enterovirus Type 71, is circulating in Cambodia. More than 50 small children have already died.

Residents in Sa Kaeo province are concerned about four cases in neighboring Cambodian province of Battambang. One of the children is in serious condition. Cambodians who want to visit the border market receive a sanitary gel from customs to wash their hands with and children are temperatured.

In Ratchaburi's Photharam district, a school was closed until Monday after 12 kindergarten students appeared to be showing symptoms of the disease. In Ban Pong district, a school is closed on Wednesday; 24 students are sick.

www.dickvanderlugt.nl – Source: Bangkok Post