News from Thailand – June 17, 2013

The so-called V for Thailand group, recognizable by white Guy Fawkes masks, has had a busy weekend. In many places in the country they protested against the government, government policies and former Prime Minister Thaksin.

Most, about a thousand, gathered in front of the CentralWorld mall on Ratchaprasong intersection in Bangkok on Sunday, which the red shirts occupied for weeks in 2010. A hundred red shirts held a counter-demonstration across the street at Gaysorn Plaza, but skirmishes did not occur thanks to seven hundred riot police. The red shirts burned a coffin with white masks and portraits of opposition party members.

The masked demonstrators then headed to Siam Square, berating riot police for Thaksin's pallbearers at the Royal Thai Police headquarters on the way. The police are under fire for failing earlier at a rally in Chiang Mai when the white masks were attacked by red shirts.

Protesters also manifested elsewhere in the country. In Nakhon Ratchasima, 500 people in white masks protested against the government's rice mortgage system and the 2,2 trillion baht loan for infrastructure works.

In Udon Thani, an important power base of the red shirts, 40 people demonstrated. There was no counter-demonstration because the red shirts celebrated the 61st birthday of their leader Kwanchai Praipana.

Demonstrations by anti-government protesters also took place in Buri Ram, Tak, Songkhla and Nakhon Si Thammarat.

– The mortgage system for rice, which causes a loss of 260 billion baht according to opposition party Democrats, is a good system and should be continued. Former Prime Minister Thaksin made this known from Dubai through his legal adviser Noppadon Pattama. Thaksin urges the government to pour clear wine as soon as possible in order to prevent the population from being misled by the opposition.

An Assumption University poll of 1.384 people in Bangkok and surrounding provinces shows that 72,1 percent of respondents believe the government is making a loss on the system and 58,7 percent believe that the taxpayer should not pay for it. Government party Pheu Thai should take responsibility for the loss and seek funds to compensate for the loss. According to the majority, the system undermines confidence in the government and thirty percent think that Prime Minister Yingluck should resign.

Suan Dusit Rajabhat University also polled the public's opinion about the mortgage system, in which the government buys rice from farmers at prices 40 percent above the market price. Of the 1.303 people surveyed, 47,5 percent believe the system undermines public confidence in the government and 42 percent have confidence in the opposition because of its investigation into program irregularities.

According to Democrat Ong-art Klampaibul, Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong (Finance) intends to lower guaranteed prices because they harm the economy.

– The Royal Thai Navy opposes the government's plan to increase the passenger capacity of U-tapao naval airport in Rayong. In this way, the government wants to reduce congestion at other airports. But according to Wichean Potephosree, Permanent Secretary of the Department of Transportation, the Navy believes the expansion threatens national security.

Today, the naval air base hosts charter and Bangkok Airways flights with 79.000 passengers annually. The Strategic Committee for Reconstruction and Future Development has proposed 239 million baht to enlarge the passenger terminal and apron. The navy resists, but wants to make the airport available in case of emergency when aircraft cannot land on Don Mueang or Suvarnabhumi.

– The World Heritage Committee (WHC) of Unesco started a 10-day meeting in Phom Penh (Cambodia) yesterday. Some 1.300 delegates are considering proposals to expand the World Heritage List, which includes 962 sites, by 15 sites, including Wat Mahathat in Nakhon Si Thammarat.

The Thai delegation is concerned that the Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai forest complex in Prachin Buri and Nakhon Ratchasima will be removed from the list. The WHC wants Thailand to end illegal rosewood logging and reduce environmental damage from the planned construction of a highway and dam.

The big hot topic, a management plan for Hindu temple Preah Vihear, has not been put on the agenda by Cambodia. In previous years, such a plan was blocked by Thailand because of the battle for the 4,6 square kilometers at the temple claimed by both countries. The case is currently pending before the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

According to a Thai source, Phom Penh could ask UNESCO for financial help for Preah Vihear. "If that happens, we will resist."

– The owners of the six luxury cars that caught fire on a trailer in Pak Chong (Nakhon Ratchasima) last month are known. The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) suspects them of evading the tax. Rumors are circulating that some cars are owned by politicians.

Next week, the DSI will start an investigation into 548 seized cars. They would have been assembled in Thailand, but the DSI doubts that. If it turns out that this is not the case, they will be confiscated.

Former senator Ruangkrai Leekijwattana will ask the DSI to investigate the Rolls Royce of Vice Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung. Has the car been legally imported and has tax been paid on it? Ruangkrai says the car should cost 32,1 million baht including tax, but the import price was only 26,9 million baht.

– The twelve soldiers of the 32nd Narathiwat Task Force, who were on their way to a football match yesterday, were lucky. The roadside bomb at a bridge in tambon Lubo Buesa hidden in a bong intended for them exploded as they passed but failed to strike a target.

In Pattani, a naval officer was shot dead while sitting on Ban Pa Mai beach to go fishing with a group of local fishermen. A man came up to him and shot him in the head.

– An ordinary robbery with 5 million baht as loot or a political settlement? And who exactly killed businessman and anti-Thaksin activist Akeyuth Anchanbutr in early June?

According to Somchai Losathaphonphihit, chairman of the parliamentary committee on police affairs, the police have ruled out a political motive too quickly. Somchai believes that the hard disks and servers stolen from the victim's home contain information that could lead police to the perpetrator.

Akeyuth made headlines last year when he said he was attacked by one of Yingluck's guards. He then witnessed Yingluck having an appointment with some businessmen at the Four Seasons Hotel in Bangkok.

Four suspects have been arrested in the murder case. Two would have helped bury the body, one of the other two would have strangled the man. One of them was Akeyuth's driver.

– A 16-year-old boy was stabbed to death on Saturday evening during a skirmish in Ban Khen (Bangkok). About ten young people got into a fight while they were eating. The police have the suspects in their sights and have asked the parents to accompany them to the station.

– The Russian owner (36) of a resort on the island of Phangan was assaulted on Saturday evening on Walking Street Road in South Pattaya by a group of motorcyclists because he refused to give way when they wanted to park their motorcycle. The man suffered a broken nose and several head and body injuries.

– Money loan sharks wreaked havoc on Saturday night in a makeshift restaurant in Thanyaburi (Pathum Thani), because the owner's son owed them money. The owner's daughter-in-law was beaten and her 7-year-old daughter was slightly injured. The son who owed them 10.000 baht was not present. The men also destroyed his room.

www.dickvanderlugt.nl – Source: Bangkok Post