News from Thailand – October 14, 2013
From my great journalistic example IF Stone ('Izzy' to friends) I learned that all governments lie until proven otherwise.
Prime Minister Yingluck lied yesterday when she said China will buy 1 million tons of rice from Thailand every year because of "good ties". The real reason is that China desperately needs the rice, as the country has gone from being self-sufficient in one year to become the world's largest rice importer, even bigger than Nigeria.
Anyway, maybe Yingluck believes what she says or she doesn't know any better. In any case, something beautiful has grown between the two countries during the last three days during the visit of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. China is buying more rice than the previously announced 1 million tons over 5 years and it is buying 200.000 tons of rubber. In return, the country will have a firm say in the development of high-speed lines.
Yesterday Yingluck and Li visited the distribution center of Otop products in San Kamphaeng (Chiang Mai). Otop (One Tambon One Product) is a program in which villages are encouraged to specialize in one product. The central organization takes care of distribution and marketing. After the visit, the Chinese premier left for Vietnam.
Opposition leader Abhisit said yesterday that the government is providing misleading information about the Bangkok-Nong Khai high-speed rail line. It could be built in 7 years, but according to Abhisit there is just enough money to get to Nakhon Ratchasima. He also thinks that the government should make it clear to the population that the 2 trillion baht it will borrow for infrastructure works, including the construction of four high-speed lines, will saddle the country with a debt for 50 years.
– Mayor Amnart Prasert of Pak Nam (Chachoengsao) lacks money to help the flood-affected residents. He has paid for sandbags and foam rafts out of his own pocket because the budget that the central government makes available, 500.000 baht, is not enough. City officials pay food and drinking water out of their own pockets for officials, soldiers and volunteers who help evacuate residents. In many places in his municipality the water is 1,5 meters high.
The death toll has now risen to 42. Twenty-five provinces are under water, as a result of which 982.799 people have been duped. 7.376 people have been evacuated, according to figures from the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department.
In Lam Plai Mat (Buri Ram), a section of highway 226, which connects Buri Ram and Nakhon Ratchasima, was closed yesterday after a truck sent to the area to evacuate residents overturned.
– The newly appointed Attorney General Athapol Yaisawang says in an interview with Bangkok Post that he will work 'professionally, openly, quickly and with integrity'. He sees it as his mission to build public trust in prosecutors so that people know where to turn when they seek justice.
Athapol's first act was to appoint a spokesman who would take decisions high-profile can explain and publish cases on the website of the Public Prosecution Service. In this way, the public remains informed of important details in court cases.
Following his predecessor's decision not to prosecute Thaksin for terrorism, he says that this decision is irreversible. Athapol will soon be allowed to decide for itself on a sensitive matter and that is the prosecution of opposition leader Abhisit and Suthep Thaugsuban, former secretary general of the Democrats. They are held responsible for the deaths of demonstrators during the red shirt riots in 2010.
“I think the day I announce my decision, a lot of people will both love me and hate me. But what people think doesn't stop me. I'm not here to please people. I don't owe anyone anything.'
– The Banana Running group finished a run that started in Bangkok yesterday in Mae Wong National Park. The tour was organized to show the participants with their own eyes whether or not a dam should be built in the park. About XNUMX people took part in the run. The same trip was previously made in reverse by Sasin Chalermsap, but it took him ten days.
– Because the corpse began to decompose and spread an unpleasant odor, the police found the lifeless body of a former Muay Thai boxer in his apartment in Rat Burana (Bangkok) after three days. The man was strangled with a phone charger cord after being hit on the head with a Buddha statue. He had recently been released from prison after serving a sentence for attempted murder.
– The bodies of thirteen presumably Myanmarese were found off the coast of Rayong. The victims had left Myanmar by boat on Wednesday. On the way they were surprised by a storm, which caused the boat to sink. The men and one woman had been searched for four days.
– Politicians should first behave better before engaging in political reform, according to 84,7 percent of respondents in a poll by Abac. 1.784 people were interviewed in Bangkok and other major cities. When asked what they are proud of, 66,4 percent said they are ashamed because the country is full of chaos and corruption and people's problems are not being addressed. 33,6 percent are proud because the country is under democratic rule.
– The fortieth anniversary of the student uprising on October 14, 1973 was commemorated yesterday at Thammasat University. In a speech, a former student leader called on the red shirts to work together with other democratic forces to jointly work towards a sustainable democracy. He noted that the military coup of 2006, which ousted Thaksin, had created deep divisions in society. Society has become divided and politically prone to civil war, Sexan Prasertkul said.
– What has become of press freedom in the past 40 years after the student uprising? That question was the focus of a meeting organized by the Thai Journalists Association (TJA), the National Press Council of Thailand, the Isra Institute and the 14 October Foundation. I'll just give the answer of the speakers: In the past, the military dictators interfered with the media and today the media is influenced by corporate groups.
“The media is at the service of business,” said Banyat Tassaneeyavej, former TJA president. "But the power of the people is increasing and the situation in the country may reach a point that will lead to a radical change of the media."
Phongsak Payakawichian, president of the Isra Amantakul Foundation, believes that the media has too much freedom to write what they want. "We come across too many columnist newspapers and they are not newspapers." According to Mana Trirayapiwat, deputy dean of the School of Communication Arts at the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, the news agenda is too dictated by marketing as many media companies struggle to survive financially.
Behind the scenes
- Bangkok Post sometimes you have to read between the lines, especially political news. Last week I wrote about the reorganization of the opposition party Democrats. What I did not read or did not notice in the reports is that an attempt was made to cheat party leader Abhisit. I read that in the column on Saturday Losers and Winners, which always looks back at the news of the past week. Mr Abhisit fought off a challenge to his leadership. The 'perennial high-profile spokesman Alongkorn Ponlaboot agreed to stick around and keep his token deputy leader's position.' So, I know that too.
– I came across another interesting fact in the economic field in the section The big issue, in which one particular case is highlighted each week. Saturday was the rice problem. China has changed in one year from a country that is self-sufficient in rice to one that has to import rice. And that seems like good news for the Thai government, which is stuck with a huge supply of rice. Details will never be known, the newspaper writes, because the country is anxiously keeping secret how much it has to buy and at what price.
www.dickvanderlugt.nl – Source: Bangkok Post