News from Thailand – April 20, 2013
The installation of radio-frequency identification (RFID) on highways and toll roads has significantly reduced speed limit violations by minivans, the Department of Land Transport (DLT) says. In the first month after the equipment was installed, the number of violations was 800, but then dropped to 100-200 per month.
The DLT attributes that decrease to the heavy fines that are handed out. First-time offenders were fined 5.000 baht; repeat offenders 10.000 baht and the license of 10 vans was withdrawn. In addition, drivers who drive under a concession from the BMTA (municipality of Bangkok) or the Transport Co received an additional fine. Between April 1 last year and March 17, 3.562 drivers were caught speeding and 1.148 were fined.
Accidents are often the result of poor road and van conditions, according to the DLT. Roads with sharp curves and dangerous intersections are a problem for inexperienced drivers and poorly maintained vans can easily cause an accident.
Transport authorities are trying to improve road conditions by erecting warning signs and lights and installing crash barriers and crash breakers at dangerous points on roads and elevated highways.
– The Constitutional Court says it has jurisdiction to hear a petition protesting against amendment of Article 68 of the Constitution. The Court has been accused of interfering with the legislative process, but the Court sees it differently.
The case revolves around bills, currently under consideration by parliament, to amend 4 articles of the constitution. Article 68 provides that citizens can submit a complaint directly to the Court. Government party Pheu Thai wants to put the Attorney General in between.
In the petition, Senator Somchai Sawaengkarn asks the Court to assess the lawfulness of the amendment proposal. Pheu Thai MPs and senators issued a statement on Thursday denouncing the Court's decision to hear the petition. A legal team from the party is considering whether the Court can be charged with misuse of its powers. The parliamentarians and senators will also try to challenge the judges of the Court.
– There is no doubt who will win the parliamentary seat in tomorrow's by-elections in constituency 3 of Chiang Mai. And the winner is undoubtedly Yaowapa Wongsawat, candidate for the governing party Pheu Thai and sister of former Prime Minister Thaksin. Moreover, she comes from San Kamphaeng, one of the three (political) districts of constituency 3, and she is also a favorite in Doi Saket. She is expected to win with a majority of about XNUMX votes.
Yaowapa has had to twirl her political thumbs for 5 years (at least in public) because she was given a 5-year political ban when Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai party was dissolved for electoral fraud. She succeeds Kasem Nimmonrat, who is said to have given up his seat due to health problems. But political observers believe he has given up his seat to Yaowapa so she can be groomed to succeed her sister Yingluck should Yingluck be forced to step down for some reason.
Kasem succeeded Chinnicha Wongsawat, a daughter of Yaowapa, in the midterm elections in June last year. Chinnicha then had to resign because she had made a false statement of assets.
– A police detective was shot dead in Yarang (Pattani) yesterday while he was gathering intelligence. He was attacked in his car by four men on two motorcycles. The victim's car then crashed out of control into a tree.
In Thung Yang Daeng (also Pattani) district, a 45-year-old former village chief was shot dead. The police found his body near a mosque, which he was on his way to. Two men on a motorcycle fired at him.
In Bannang Sata district, militants opened fire on a military outpost. One soldier was slightly injured. The post with eight soldiers was fired upon from a rubber plantation opposite the post. After a firefight of about 10 minutes, the attackers fled.
– The houseboats in the Sakae Krang river in Muang (Uthai Thani) no longer float. There is so little water in the river that the houseboats are now on the river bank. The low water level is a disaster for the residents, who depend on fishing for their livelihood.
– The head of national park Kaeng Krachan has asked the Department of Special Investigation (the Thai FBI) to investigate the elephants shot dead in the park. Chaiwat Limlikhit-aksorn suspects senior officials pay stateless individuals to shoot elephants so they can sell the body parts on the black market.
Two weeks ago, a dead pregnant elephant was found in the park. The chest of the animal was removed. The discovery of the animal prompted the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation to set up a committee to investigate the functioning of Chaiwat.
Kasetsart University held a seminar yesterday entitled 'Who Killed the Kaeng Krachan Elephants?'. Since Chaiwat became park chief in 2008, six elephants have been killed; two in the past two months.
– Two bags with human body parts were found on Thursday evening in a dry canal in Manorom (Chai Nat). Residents who had seen a dog with a body part in its mouth alerted the police. The victim's head was not found. It may be a foreigner, but the police have not confirmed this.
– The value and appeal of Thai natural textiles can be significantly increased with the use of a nanotechnology coating, says the Ministry of Science and Technology. To promote this, the ministry has opened the country's first coating center through the National Nanotechnology Centre. It is located in the Phrae Technical College.
Not coincidentally there, because the province of Phrae is known for its indigo blue mor hom fabrics and shirts. However, the color fades easily and the fabric is not very durable. A nano-surface gives the fabric a silky effect, makes it slightly water-repellent and has anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties. The coating survives 20 washes.
– For the first time in 8 years, the BTS ticket will be more expensive. At present, a ride on the overground metro costs an average of 24 baht. How much the rate will be increased has not yet been announced, but the maximum will go from 40 to 56 baht.
Financial economic news
- The decision is made. Finance Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong has finally admitted that he would rather lose Bank of Thailand Governor Prasarn Trairatvorakul than get rich.
The reason has long been an open secret: the central bank refuses the so-called policy rate for fear of fueling inflation. Kittiratt wants the policy rate lower, because he feels the hot breath of the exporters who complain about the expensive baht. In addition, the growth forecast of the Ministry of Finance is in jeopardy. According to the minister, lowering interest rates would put an end to the inflow of foreign capital, which he considers responsible for the price increase.
Economists and former Treasury Secretary Korn Chatikavanij dispute Kittiratt's view. Even if interest rates fall, foreign capital will continue to flow into the country, because most of it will go to the stock and equity markets. According to Korn, the Thai policy rate not extremely high at all. 'Many other countries in the region have higher ones policy rates than thailand. A reduction in the policy rate is not the solution to the baht's appreciation," he says.
Kittiratt has long been making every effort to influence central bank monetary policy. At present, the policy rate (from which the banks derive their interest rates) 2,75 percent; the minister wants to take 1 percent off. In financial circles, Kittiratt's political interference is frowned upon. By the way, it is not even easy to fire the governor of the central bank. This is only possible if he breaks the law or is guilty of misconduct or gross negligence.
Kittiratt made his controversial statement Thursday during a discussion with Korn about Thailand's future economy. Prasarn was unavailable for comment. He was appointed in 2010 for a term of 5 years,
– Thailand's car production and sales did not disappoint in March. Production increased by 34,3 percent year-on-year and sales by 14,4 percent. In March, 256.231 cars rolled off the assembly line and 721.460 in the first three months of this year, 44,5 percent more than in the same period last year. In March, 156.951 cars were sold domestically and 102.742 were exported.
– The figures are not yet final, because some farmers still have to hand in their rice, even though the deadline of the mortgage system for the main harvest was March 31. Until April 4, 13,402 million tons of rice have been surrendered at a cost of 185,83 billion baht paid out by the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives, which pre-finances the system.
For the main harvest, an amount of 240 billion baht has been reserved for 15 million tons of paddy (brown rice). The government is expected to buy 7 million tons of the second harvest for an amount of 105 billion baht. It started at the beginning of this month.
The government fears that the budget will be overspent as farmers in ten provinces in irrigated areas in lower-central Thailand harvest three times. It is likely that the third crop will be harvested before the end of September, when the mortgage system ends. There is also some concern about farmers changing the name of the tenant of the paddy field and thus abusing the mortgage system.
– The Thailand Research Development Institute (TDRI) is concerned about the planned construction of four high-speed lines. It wonders whether there are enough passengers and is concerned about the subsidy burden that the government will have to bear. Of the total amount of 2 trillion baht that the government wants to borrow over the next seven years, 900 billion baht is earmarked for the high-speed lines. The rest of the amount is intended for regular railways, seaports, roads and customs posts.
The TDRI believes that parliament should be given more powers to control expenditure. It also calls for the publication of more details of the planned projects, the feasibility studies that will be done and audits afterwards. A feasibility study has now started for one of the four planned lines.
– The large economic profit of high-speed lines makes the construction worthwhile, say Minister Chadchat Sittipunt (Transport) in response to a warning from the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI) (See message above). On Thursday, TDRI researcher Sumet Ongkittikul said the high-speed lines will never break even.
This concern is shared by Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong (Finance). Kittiratt has asked the National Economic and Social Development Board to conduct a cost-benefit analysis. If the construction isn't worth the investment, the government might be better off funding other projects, says Kittiratt.
But his colleague Chadchat thinks otherwise. The government has announced in parliament that it wants to build those lines, so it is now obliged to do so. Chadchat points out that the costs of railways can never be covered by the proceeds of ticket sales. But the construction of railways leads to urbanization, the development of businesses and residential communities and jobs, which increases government tax revenues. "The economic benefits far outweigh the proceeds from ticket sales."
According to Sumet, the high-speed lines lead to a huge debt burden. High-speed lines elsewhere in the world must carry at least 3 million passengers in the first year if there is any prospect of cost-effective operation. But the lines the government wants to build must attract at least 9 million passengers because of the high construction costs, Sumet warns.
www.dickvanderlugt.nl – Source: Bangkok Post