News from Thailand – March 15, 2012

Forty female riot police officers are deployed to Suvarnabhumi to reduce waiting times at passport control.

More civil servants will also be scheduled for peak hours. The airport gives 100.000 baht per day to the Immigration Bureau to cover costs. The airport has also hired 57 externals to check passengers' arrival cards before they get to the counter.

An automated passport control system will come into operation for Thai passengers on April 11. The 16 machines are evenly distributed over the arrivals and departures halls. More space is also freed up when the X-ray control is moved to the mezzanine.

– The supply of 900.000 tablet PCs by a Chinese company is subject to approval from the Chinese government. ICT Minister Anudith Nakornthap does not want to say which of the four Chinese companies that have registered will supply the tablet, because it concerns a procedure between governments. But it was already leaked yesterday that the selection committee selected Shenzhen Scope Scientific Development because it is the cheapest. The tablets will be given to Prathom 1 students from the start of the new school year.

– The Ministry of Commerce wonders how it is possible that prices in eateries have risen, while the ingredients have hardly become more expensive. The government has asked the Trade Department to investigate pricing in department stores and shops.

According to a spokesman for the Democratic party, the government's energy policy is the culprit. It should subsidize gas and oil prices. He predicts that prices will rise further when the minimum wage is raised in April.

– The Passenger Bus Operators Association is not waiting for permission from the Ministry of Transport for fare increases due to the increased cost of fuel. On April 1, 6 satang per kilometer will be added to the interprovincial routes. The bus operators accept any fines for granted. The association already applied for permission last month.

– There seems to be progress in the previously announced prisoner exchange between Thailand and Cambodia. The Thai embassy in Phnom Penh has been instructed to consult with Cambodia about the details. If it all goes through, Veera Somkomenkid, coordinator of the Thai Patriots Network, and his secretary could return to Thailand. They were arrested in December 2010 and sentenced to eight and six years in prison respectively for espionage and illegal entry into Cambodian territory. According to Minister Surapong Towijakchaikul (Foreign Affairs), the two could be exchanged for four Cambodians imprisoned in Thailand.

– That cannot be a coincidence, although those involved deny it. The parliamentary committee for Foreign Affairs has decided to visit Cambodia instead of Myanmar after it became known that former Prime Minister Thaksin intends to visit Cambodia. Most committee members who go to Phnom Penh are members of the governing party Pheu Thai. According to the committee chairman, it would be cheaper to go to Cambodia than to Myanmar. He denied that the committee members intended to meet Thaksin.

– The Anti-Money Laundering Office (Amlo) will reclaim ownership of 1.000 rai of land on Phuket Island, because it is located in a forest reserve. Amlo is currently investigating illegal land ownership in forest reserves and the illegal issuance of title deeds to foreigners in the coastal provinces. Reclaiming land owned by foreigners through stooges is tricky. This is only possible if payment has been made with laundered money, earned through drug trafficking or other illegal activities. Also, the property can be canceled if the title deed is false, the boundaries of the plot have been moved illegally or authorities have been bribed.

– Member of Parliament Ekanat Prompan (Democrats) has filed a complaint with the police against the company that is doing exploratory drilling in the district of Thawi Watthana (Bangkok). Local residents had complained about the drilling activities. According to Ekanat, these could violate the Dangerous Materials Act and the Factory Act. Ekanat had previously asked a Senate committee to investigate because the project could have negative environmental consequences. The local residents have approached the Central Administrative Court with a request to halt the work.

– The Supreme Court has upheld a 5-year prison sentence for a former police officer in Bang Kae district who asked for 2001 baht in bribes in 6.000 before hearing a complaint from anyone.

– The Rat Burana-Nonthaburi ferry service of the Chao Praya Express Boat Co is discontinued due to a sharp decrease in the number of passengers: from 2.000 to 600 per day. commuters journey now by train and bus.

– Three men, including a guard and cook of a holiday park in Thap Sakae (Prachuap Khiri Khan), are questioned by the police about the murder of a British man (68) and his Thai wife (52). The guard and cook have confessed to the murder, the third man says he had nothing to do with it. The couple was found severely abused in their room on Tuesday afternoon.

– In eight of the nine northern provinces, the concentration of dust particles in the air has fallen below the safety standard. Only in Mae Hong Son province does the haze situation remain critical. Myanmar and Laos have banned the burning of weeds and crop residues.

– The parliamentary committee on police affairs has come to the conclusion that the police wrongly shot a man in Rayong on December 27 last year, whom they suspected of possessing speed pills. Police say they found 198 speed pills in the man's underwear; the father, who had lodged a complaint with the parliamentary committee, does not believe that. According to the committee, the police had violated the applicable rules when making the arrest. She has asked the Royal Thai Police to investigate the matter further.

– The authorities in the southern province of Narathiwat believe that 1.400 rai of land is in the hands of drug gangs and insurgents. Rubber plantations are especially popular with them; the owners are forced to sell their land at minimal prices. Then they use the plantations as a shelter.

Deputy Prime Minister Yutthasak Sasiprasa believes that government policy in the South is beginning to be successful. The Barisan Revolusi Nasional would like to talk to the government. Yutthasak does not want to call it negotiations, because the government does not negotiate with insurgents, because then it would legitimize the organization.

Army commander Prayuth Chan-ocha says the idea that troop withdrawal and the lifting of the state of emergency will ease tensions is a misconception. The Democratic MP for Narathiwat has proposed lifting the state of emergency in some districts not ravaged by violence.

– The chance of a repeat of last year's floods in the northern and central provinces is 1 percent this year, says Minister Plodprasop Suraswadi (Science and Technology). He bases himself on a computer model developed by the ministry and the research institutes DHI from Denmark and Deltares from the Netherlands.

According to Plodprasop, Thailand will not have to worry about major floods for the next 70 to 80 years. Nevertheless, the government is taking measures to reduce the consequences of any flooding. 'If a flood comes, it will have a lesser impact than in the past. Flooded areas will be halved along with water levels.'

It's not going to happen without a hit or a hit. In Phitsanulok province, residents are demanding that the Bung Raman municipality stop dumping mud from a swamp onto rice paddies. And yesterday about thirty residents from the district of Uthai protested at the town hall of Ayutthaya against the construction of an earthen dike around Rojana Industrial Estate. They say the dike is blocking the water supply to their paddy fields.

www.dickvanderlugt.nl – Source: Bangkok Post