News from Thailand – July 15, 2013
They paused in Bangkok for a while, but they were back on Sunday: the V for Thailand group, recognizable by the white masks they wear. But there were fewer than last time.
Some eight hundred demonstrators showed up at the statue of King Rama V at Lumpini park. The previous rally drew XNUMX supporters at its peak.
Some white masks gathered at CentralWorld, the mall that was set on fire after the red shirt occupation ended in 2010, and then moved on to police headquarters on Rama I Road.
The demonstrators at Lumpini chalked anti-government slogans on three banners 300 meters long. Some protesters used loudspeakers to voice their displeasure with the government. They denounced the rice mortgage system and criticized Prime Minister Yingluck. There was no sign of any leadership.
A hundred officers who had been summoned could twiddle their thumbs, because no incidents took place.
The next rally is scheduled for July 22 at CentralWorld.
– The woman who, at the age of 13 and 14, had a sexual relationship with 'jet-set' monk Wirapol Sukphol (the title Luang Pu was taken away from him) and bore him a son, has reported to the Department of Special Investigation ( DSi). She was accompanied by Virod Chaipannana, director of the Office of Buddhism in Si Sa Ket, the province where the monk's forest monastery is located. Witnesses were the grandmother of the woman, the kamnan of tambon Pho and the acting head of the Tambon Pho Administration Organization (Si Sa Ket).
The grandmother witnessed the monk picking up the girl for her school in his chariot. Sometimes, she explained, he wore civilian clothes. He usually picked her up between 5 and 6 in the afternoon and brought her back around 4 the next morning. This took several years. According to the grandmother, the monk visited her granddaughter when she was pregnant, but he did not provide financial support despite his promise.
The monk's fleet is now expanding. The DSI has tracked down another sixteen of the monk's wagons, bringing the total to seventy. Those sixteen also evaded taxes.
The rector of Ubon Ratchathani Rajabhat University says that the University Council will decide during its meeting on July 26 whether the honorary doctorate that the monk was awarded in 2010 will be revoked.
– Prime Minister Yingluck was in a generous mood during her visit to Nang Rong (Buri Ram) yesterday. She promised to widen the current two-lane road from Nang Rong to Ubon Ratchathani into a four-lane road. The money for this can come from the 2 trillion baht that the government will borrow for infrastructure works (including the construction of high-speed lines). The route to the Prasat Hin Khao Phanom Rung is being refurbished for tourism.
Yingluck visited various projects, including the innovation learning center of the Thaicom foundation in tambon Nong Bot. She told the villagers what wonderful things the government has already done to help the people increase their income. She mentioned the village fund and it women's empowerment fund.
The visit to Nang Rong was followed by a visit to Muang, where the second phase of a farmer's credit card project was launched. With that card, farmers can buy fertilizer, seed, pesticide and fuel, with no interest to be paid for four months.
The credit card is issued by the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives. Since Phase 1 started last July, 2 million cards have been issued with a credit line of 43,66 billion baht. Now it's the turn of 4 million farmers.
– We already have six, so why not add a seventh? Relatives of those who lost their lives during the red shirt riots in April and May 2010 will submit their own amnesty initiative bill. Initially they supported the proposal of member of parliament Worachai Hema, but on closer inspection they think that does not go far enough.
All proposals relate to those who have been arrested or convicted of political offenses since the military coup of September 2006. The amnesty does not apply to the leaders in the seventh proposal either. Parliament will return from recess in August and may then make a choice from the amnesty proposals.
– A weapons cache has been found in a house near the border of Thailand and Myanmar. The police and the army raided with a hundred men, after being tipped off. They took four, among others rocket propelled grenade launchers confiscated. Two men were arrested. One of them is said to be a former police officer who worked in the Quartermaster Division of the Royal Thai Police.
– Another arrest in the case of the kidnapped businessman from Sa Kaeo, the third. The man has stated that they gave the businessman an electric shock and then took him to the home of a former police lieutenant colonel. That man was the first to be arrested. The victim has still not been found.
– On the Ratchathewi Road, the police arrested 21 street racers on motorcycles yesterday. The police had made a blockade with tuk-tuks. A number of racers managed to escape; others abandoned their motorcycles and fled on foot.
www.dickvanderlugt.nl – Source: Bangkok Post