News from Thailand – August 22, 2014
The head maker of Bangkok Post was once again in a playful creative mood. He headlined an article about solar panels: Solar power primed for heat stroke.
The share price of companies that solar farms (complexes with a battery of solar panels) was given a major boost after the junta formulated a policy objective of wanting to increase the use of sustainable energy.
In 2021, 25 percent of national energy consumption must come from sustainable energy sources. It seems that the companies in question have counted themselves rich a little too quickly. The high share price is now working against them.
This year, the share price of Energy Absolute, producer of solar and wind energy, rose by 225 percent, Superblock by 193 percent and Demco Pl, a company that builds renewable energy plants, by 75 percent.
Kriengkrai Tumnutud, head of strategy at AEC Securities, says current market prices are too high, so investors should be cautious. The sector expects many newcomers because the permitted capacity is being increased. Kriengkrai thinks that the costs of acquiring a permit will go up. Furthermore, the break-even point will go from six to seven years to nine to ten years as a result of new kWh rates.
– Saudi Arabia has recalled its chargé d'affaires from Thailand, presumably in protest against the appointment of Somjate Boonthanom to the National Legislative Assembly (emergency parliament). Former senator Somjate is the brother of a prime suspect in the 1990 murder of a Saudi businessman. The chargé d'affaires, Abdalelah Mohammed A Alsheaiby, has been called back 'for consultation', as it is called in diplomatic terms.
A source unnamed by the newspaper says it is not certain whether the chargé d'affaires will return. Diplomatic ties between Thailand and Saudi Arabia have not been scaled back, as embassy staff have not been withdrawn.
The chargé d'affaires was in the news after the acquittal of five police officers for the kidnapping and murder of the businessman. The chargé d'affaires stated that the already difficult relationship between the two countries could deteriorate further as a result. The Public Prosecution Service and the victim's family appealed against the acquittal in June.
Saudi Arabia accuses Thailand of laxity in investigating the murder of four Saudi diplomats in 1989 and 1990 and the kidnapping/murder. This prompted Riyadh to adjust diplomatic ties downwards.
– In a collision between a truck loaded with red grapes and a bus in Dok Kham Tai (Phayao), four people, including the driver of the bus, died on Wednesday evening and seven others were injured. There were eleven passengers on the bus. According to a witness, the driver of the truck lost control on the descent of a hill. The truck then slammed into the side of the interliner coming from the opposite direction. The force of the collision left the bus off the road.
In Muang (Samut Songkhram), a car crashed through the concrete wall of a school yesterday. A teacher and nine students were about to cross when the car broke through the wall behind them. They suffered minor injuries. According to the driver of the car, he had problems with the acceleration when driving away.
– Airports of Thailand will be involved in the construction of a new passenger terminal and the construction of a monorail at Suvarnabhumi airport. The plans must be on the table within two months, so that the cabinet (still to be formed) can approve them before the end of the year.
The tender will then take place at the beginning of next year and with any luck, the new terminal, which will be connected to Concourse A via the monorail, will be operational in 2018. Suvarnabhumi can then handle an additional 20 million passengers per year. The current capacity of the airport is 45 million passengers per year.
Plans for a new advance passenger processing system to speed up passport control are still being studied. With the new system, officials can see whether passengers are wanted in their own country.
Suvarnabhumi also wants to build a third runway. There are two options for this: a track of 2.900 meters and a track of more than 4.000 meters. In the first case, an environmental impact assessment will suffice; in the second case, a health impact assessment must also be done.
Finally, Airports of Thailand will take over the management of U Tapao naval air base. The airport will serve charter flights and can handle 2,5 million passengers per year.
– Naval officers and officials from the Ministry of Tourism and Sports have arrested two illegal Chinese tour guides in Phuket. The arrest is the start of a campaign to put an end to this evil. The two were caught red-handed escorting a group of Chinese tourists onto a bus. Some of the passengers on the bus said they had been blackmailed by the guides. They had forced them to visit places not on the itinerary, and they were rude.
Reportedly, three hundred Chinese in the southern provinces plus Phuket work illegally as tour guides. Only Thais are allowed to do that work. They are also active in Chiang Mai. A tour guide club has asked the governor to put an end to it. The Chinese guides take the tourists to shops where products are sold at extortionate prices or they force the tourists to buy extra excursions.
A group of Chinese-speaking Thai guides has asked the Crime Suppression Division in Bangkok to crack down on illegal Chinese tour guides at the Grand Palace. They claim to have been threatened by them.
– I don't know what it's good for, but Pisit Tantiwutthanakul, director of the All IVF clinic where illegal IVF treatments have taken place, has received permission from the police to postpone his questioning until next month. That was scheduled for today. If Pisit does not appear on the mat next month, an arrest warrant will be issued.
Pisit is suspected of having performed IVF treatments for the Japanese man who is said to have fathered 15 test-tube babies with Thai surrogate mothers. The Japanese is suspected of human trafficking.
The Lat Phrao police station has reported on a condo at 130 soi Lat Phrao where eleven surrogate mothers were staying. [Unless I'm mistaken, this is a second condo with babies. In the first in Bang Kapi, nine babies were found with caregivers.] They have stated that they were helped by Pisit and will be called as witnesses.
The Medical of Council of Thailand (MCT) warns clinics against performing artificial insemination, a procedure in which sperm is injected directly into the uterus. The women, on the other hand, are made to believe that they will receive IVF. [Whoever understands this, may say so.]
The case of Gammy, the baby with Down syndrome who was allegedly rejected by the Australian birth parents, has yet to be investigated by the MCT. A sub-committee has already been charged with this, but it has not yet met.
– A 48-year-old Thai woman who worked in Liberia may have been infected with the Ebola virus. She is closely monitored by doctors at Bamrasnaradura Hospital. The doctors have diagnosed a skin rash but they believe the woman is safe as she has no fever which is an indication of the illness. Thirteen relatives who greeted her on arrival in Thailand are also being followed.
– The Department of Natural Resources and Environment has proposed a profit-sharing arrangement between the government and rubber farmers who have illegally planted rubber trees in national forest reserves and national parks. Rubber trees under three years old are felled, with older trees that produce latex, the profit is shared: 20 percent for the Royal Forest Department (RFD), 20 percent for the local government and the rest for the planters. They are cut after 10 years.
Bit of a strange proposal if you ask me, because the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) is already in the process of removing illegally planted rubber trees. Last week the RFD felled rubber trees in 100 rai forest reserve in Loei and on Tuesday started an operation in Krabi, where 20.000 trees fell.
Prayuth Lorsuwansiri, president of the Forest Alumni Society of Kasetsart University, says the profit-sharing scheme is illegal. The DNP should not profit from illegally planted trees in national parks.
Residents in Khao Ban Tad (Phatthalung) have filed a complaint about the DNP's demolition rage with the National Human Rights Commission. They want the committee to ask the DNP to put the chainsaw away. It is estimated that 4 million rai of protected land has been illegally planted with rubber trees.
– Greenpeace Southeast Asia advocates the generation of clean energy instead of the (planned) construction of a coal-fired power plant in Krabi. According to director Tara Buakamsri, the province has sufficient capacity to generate its own sustainable energy. He says that the national electricity company does not provide correct information about the energy needs in Krabi.
The province would have a deficit of 800 megawatts if the plant is not built. But Tara says Krabi uses only 110 megawatts at peak times. He also denies that coal is a clean source of energy as claimed by the government. 'That is not true. Experts say there is no clean coal in the world. They still emit unhealthy gases, such as mercury, up to more than 100 kilometers from a power station.'
Jompob Waewsak, director of the Energy and Environment Research Center at Thaksin University, confirms Tara's story. Clean energy sources (biogas, natural gas, solar and wind) can meet the province's energy needs of 250 megawatts.
Egat defends the choice of location. The plant will also supply power to neighboring provinces such as Phuket, Ranong and Pangnga.
– A grandmother has asked the Pavena Hongsakula Foundation for Women and Children for help to persuade her American son-in-law to come forward with money. According to her, the man collects 100.000 baht annually in child support from the US embassy for his 6-year-old son, but the grandmother who takes care of the son and two other children does not see a penny of it. As a result, she cannot send the children to school, nor can she work because she has to take care of them. Only grandpa is the breadwinner. He works as a casual labourer.
It is not known whether the father is in Thailand or in the US and whether he still lives with the children's mother. According to a social worker of the foundation, the children suffer from diseases of the hands, feet and mouth. The foundation takes them to the hospital. She will ask the Department of Social Affairs to provide milk and will ask the American embassy to trace the father.
– We do not use lead and manganese, says the head of the gold mine in Pichit, who is accused of this by local residents. The residents say that these metals were found in high concentrations in a 2010 study by the Pollution Control Department in well water.
On Wednesday, a team of doctors, activists and environmentalists traveled to the area to collect data. The NCPO has asked for this after the villagers had handed over a letter on June 27 asking for help.
The company says consultants regularly take water samples. The level of heavy metals is within the limit, take into account the presence of natural bed rock in the area. [?] The company is also ISO certified.
Economic news
– That will not happen often: a senate committee that threatens to be taken to court. In this case, it concerns the former Senate committee good governance, which had asked the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) to investigate the four members of the telecom committee of the NBTC (National Telecommunications and Broadcasting Commission, the watchdog of telecommunications and broadcasting).
The Senate Judiciary Committee suspected the foursome of making nasty business in the 2012 auction of the 3G spectrum, so that the frequencies all ended up in the hands of the big three: AIS, DTAC and True Move, at a price just above the floor price .
But the NACC now says there is no evidence for this, pointing out that XNUMX companies qualified for the auction. And because the NACC exonerates the foursome, they see their chance to get their revenge, because "the allegations have damaged the credibility and image of the NBTC."
And not only that. According to Settapong Malisuwan, chairman of the telecom committee, the action of the Senate committee has also affected the share prices of the three companies and harmed the industrial investment climate. Settapong praises the NACC's decision. "The entire mobile phone industry can now move forward at full speed without further doubts or concerns."
However, that full power seems more like half power, because the NCPO (junta) has postponed the auction of the 1800 and 900 MHz spectrum for 4G broadband by a year. The junta believes that the NBTC should first work on its regulations to ensure that the auction is transparent and serves the public interest.
In addition to the Senate committee, two individuals had also approached the NACC: Suriyasai Katasila, leader of the Green Politics group, and Supa Piyajitti, former deputy permanent secretary of the Treasury Department. Whether they will also meet the judge, the message does not say.
– Dawei, the ambitious plan for a joint industrial area of Thailand and Myanmar in eastern Myanmar, has received the green light from the junta. I haven't followed the case closely, but what I know is that development has been extremely difficult so far because investors are not eager to put money into it. And nothing has happened at all since the dissolution of parliament in December.
The Thai contractor/project developer Italian-Thai Development Plc, who was to develop the project, has now been discharged. A joint venture [of Thailand and Myanmar] with a 75-year concession will now do this. The first phase, covering one fifth of the territory, involves the construction of roads, a port and an industrial estate. As far as I know, a working harbor has already been dug.
www.dickvanderlugt.nl – Source: Bangkok Post
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