News from Thailand – January 18, 2014

More than three thousand farmers, who have been waiting for months for money for their surrendered paddy, yesterday blocked Asian Highway 117 in Bung Na Rang (Pichit). They carried a fake coffin with the portraits of Prime Minister Yingluck and some ministers on it, and later set it on fire.

Finance Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong says no funds have been leaked from the funds used to pay farmers. Over the past two years (four harvest seasons), 680 billion baht has gone to farmers through the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives. The minister said he was prepared to ask the Electoral Council for permission next week to take out a loan or to withdraw the funds still to be paid out from bank funds.

Kittiratt blamed the delays on the opposition, which had frustrated the budget process and then left the House before Yingluck dissolved the House. Because the cabinet is outgoing, it cannot make decisions that would be a financial burden for the next government, he oracled in a (transparent) attempt to clear his alley. According to Kittiratt, the government has enough money to pay the farmers; all we have to do is wait for the green light from the Electoral Council.

On Thursday, the National Anti-Corruption Commission decided to prosecute former two ministers and XNUMX other persons involved in the rice mortgage system for corruption. Prime Minister Yingluck's role as chairman of the National Rice Policy Committee is under further investigation. If she was negligent, she must leave the field.

– They are not poisoned, is the preliminary verdict of veterinarians on the death of 22 wild gaurs in Kui Buri National Park (Prachuap Khiri Khan). Deadly bacteria, worms and nitrate were found in the tissue samples and stomach contents examined.

No final verdict yet, says Theerapat Prayurasiddhi, deputy head of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP), because so far 17 carcasses have been examined by veterinarians from the National Institute of Animal Health.

In nine of the seventeen it is clostridium novyi found, in two carcasses a blood parasite that anaplasmosis caused, and varying amounts of nitrate were found in all carcasses. We now await further laboratory research to determine whether there is a link between the diseases and the chemicals.

Niphon considers it unlikely that the animals were poisoned, as has been suggested. The perpetrators would then have had to know where the animals forage in order to poison them every time.

It is also too early to conclude that soil contamination is the cause. The Waste and Hazardous Substances Bureau, which took soil and water samples, did detect arsenic contamination. But only in the Khut Mai creek the concentration was above the safety standard and it is not lethal.

The park is closed until March while the cause of death of the animals is investigated.

– The police have made three major drug busts in the North, Northeast and South. In Mae Hong Song, 384.000 speed pills worth 76 million baht and 20 kilos of crystal meth worth 60 million baht were intercepted. In Nakhon Phanom, 630 kilos of marijuana worth 10 million baht were found and in Songkhla, 6200 methamphetamine pills, an AK-47 rifle and 24 rounds of ammunition were found in a house in Saba Yoi.

– A man from Malta was severely assaulted in Pattaya by a group of men. The man and his Thai girlfriend, who were under the influence, got into a fight with the driver of a motosai. He tried to calm him down when he started kicking an ATM that had swallowed his card and was not giving money. The driver enlisted the help of friends and they beat the Maltese with a metal stick and beer bottle.

– An EOD team has been able to defuse a bomb in Yala, which was intended to kill patrolling soldiers. The bomb, a fire extinguisher, was in a pile of wood and had been discovered by a passerby.

– Oil company PTT Plc threatens to take people who spread rumors about lèse-majesté committed by the company to court. According to those rumors, the company would support a red shirt publication that contains offensive comments about the royal family.

Economic news

– Tougher penalties and the cooperation of private and public sectors in the control of government projects are key to fighting Thailand's rampant corruption, says the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC).

The UTCC's latest poll shows that most companies continue to pay bribes to government officials and politicians of 25 to 35 percent of the tender price, despite seeing more anti-corruption campaigns. There are indications that in some northern provinces this percentage has risen to 50 percent.

The UTCC's Corruption Situation Index is based on responses from 2.400 corporate and government respondents. In December last year, the score was 39, compared to 41 in June. The lower the number, the greater the corruption. Above 40 points, one speaks of moderate corruption. At 100 points, corruption is completely absent.

Last year, the UTCC estimated the loss to the country at 240 to 330 billion baht; the total investment amounted to 2,4 million baht. The percentage of 35 percent corresponds to 2,63 percent of the gross domestic product.

“Corruption is now rampant, both within government departments and local governments,” said Thanavath Phonvichai, vice president of research at UTCC. “There is an urgent need to reform the law and to impose strict penalties on those guilty of corruption.

According to Transparency International's 2013 Corruption Perceptions Index, Thailand ranks 102nd out of 177 countries by level of corruption. A year earlier, the country was ranked 88, which means that corruption has increased. (Bangkok Post, January 17, 2014) (See About Corruption page)

- See further Bangkok Breaking News – January 18, 2014

www.dickvanderlugt.nl – Source: Bangkok Post