News from Thailand – January 22, 2013
You wonder: what possesses all those people to run for governor of Bangkok? Yesterday 18 people registered and unless a miracle happens, most of them have no chance. Because the battle in Bangkok is between ex-governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra (Democrats) and Pongsapat Pongcharoen (Pheu Thai) and even he is at a disadvantage, because Bangkok has been a Democratic stronghold for years.
After registration, the candidates drew their list number. Sukhumbhand was delighted with number 16. He called it a 'lucky number' as he was the 9th governor of Bangkok. Pongsapat drew number XNUMX. Whether that is also a lucky number, the newspaper does not mention. Two candidates are female.
On March 3, the people of Bangkok will elect a new governor. Sukhumbhand is ahead in the polls, but most voters are still cautious. Bangkok has 4,3 million voters. The Electoral Council is campaigning to get people to the polls; she hopes for a turnout of 67 percent.
Earlier the newspaper reported that there were five independent candidates, later one more was added, but now there appear to be sixteen and perhaps more will be added, because registration closes on Friday.
– The Wat Or Noi temple in Kamphaeng Saen (Nakhon Pathom) is for sale. Abbot Phra Suwit Theerathammo wants to get rid of the 200-rai temple grounds with buildings because the stench of a nearby cattle feed factory is unbearable. The temple costs 2 billion baht.
The factory in question says it will install equipment to reduce the smell, but it is not possible to completely eliminate it. According to the director of the National Office of Buddhism, the abbot cannot just sell the temple, but that requires permission from various authorities.
– If you want to know the quality of a military unit, you have to look at its toilets, says Commander Prayuth Chan-ocha. He called for toilets to be kept clean during a ceremony on the occasion of the eleventh anniversary of the Eleventh Infantry Regiment yesterday. This is how you show respect and care, says Prayuth.
– Hundreds of supporters of the ultra-nationalist Thai Patriots Network demonstrated yesterday at the Royal Plaza against the role of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague in the Preah Vihear case. [Also known as International Court of Justice] The Court is considering Cambodia's request to "reinterpret" its 1962 judgment awarding the temple to Cambodia with the aim of eliciting a ruling from the Court on the ownership of the property owned by both countries disputed 4,6 square kilometers at the temple.
According to protest leader Chaiwat Sinsuwong, the network has collected 1,3 million signatures under a petition denying the ICJ's jurisdiction in the case. The network believes that the government should do the same and disregard any negative statement. The petition was delivered to the United Nations Office on Ratchadamnoen Avenue yesterday. Copies went to army commanders and the president of the Supreme Court.
– Army commander Prayuth Chan-ocha is opposed to establishing a refugee camp for the approximately 850 Rohingya detained earlier this month in Songkhla province after they fled Myanmar. [Read: Smuggled into the country by human traffickers on their way to Malaysia or Indonesia.]
The general says that a camp could encourage other illegal migrants to flee to Thailand as well. “If we include them, it could cause long-term problems. The longer they are allowed to stay, the greater their numbers become. The Rohingya will continue to come here as long as the problem of persecution exists in their own country [Myanmar].'
According to the general, the Rohingya are illegal immigrants and not refugees. They must be prosecuted under Thai law before being sent back to Myanmar. But for now, Prayuth said, Thailand must provide humanitarian aid pending a long-term solution. "We have to find a solution that is acceptable to both sides, otherwise we will be branded as inhumane."
Thailand has nine refugee camps with approximately 130.000 refugees, mainly from Myanmar. Most have been waiting for years for resettlement in a third country.
– It is not getting along with the construction of 396 new police stations. The contractor should have delivered the buildings last June, but the agents of those agencies still have to do their work in emergency housing.
The Department of Special Investigation (DSI, the Thai FBI) will send inspectors to investigate whether there are any irregularities. DSI head Tarit Pengdith inspected the construction site of Don Phut police station in Saraburi and Rong Chan in Ayutthaya yesterday. Tarit believes that a new contractor should be hired to finish the job. The defaulting contractor acquired the work in 2010 for a sum that was 450 million baht below budget. When he couldn't get the work done on time, he put subcontractors to work.
– Three schoolboys broke into a school in Thalang (Phuket) on Sunday to play computer games. The boys had run away from home on Saturday and had no money to pursue their favorite hobby in a cyber cafe. They confessed to the police that they had broken into the school's computer room several times before. They had been punished for this by teachers, but because they were rather stubborn, they decided to call in the police this time.
– The trade union of Thai Airways International (THAI) wants the board to quickly approve the wage increase that THAI president Sorajak Kasemsuvan has promised. The union believes that the Executive Board should meet earlier than the planned date of February 8.
The union is demanding a 7,5 percent wage increase for workers earning less than 30.000 baht a month. She also wants the budget for performance bonuses to be increased and the amount to be divided equally among the staff. She has dropped the previously formulated requirement, a bonus of 2 months instead of the 1 month offered. According to union chairman Jaemsri Sukchoterat, THAI cannot afford that.
Four hundred THAI ground staff went on strike on Friday evening to strengthen the union's demands. On Saturday evening, the union reached an agreement with the THAI president. The chairman of the Executive Board can count on little sympathy from the union. He had better resign, the union says.
– The 14.000 teachers from private schools in the South want to receive a monthly hazard allowance as well as their colleagues in public education. Yesterday the Confederation of Private Schools met in Pattani. She reiterated her request that was previously rejected by the Ministry of Education.
The confederation points out that unlike public schools, none of the private schools have closed their doors in protest, although several teachers at those schools have been shot dead by insurgents. Apparently we have attracted less attention because of this, says chairman Khoddaree Binsen.
– The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation will sit down with sellers of ivory accessories this month to discuss the problem of smuggled African ivory. It is said that African ivory is mixed with Thai elephant ivory in the production of permitted accessories.
The department will again point out the legal provisions to the traders. It's going to step up control. The shops are also being asked to stop selling their products to foreigners because the export of ivory is banned under the CITES convention. Colleagues in Africa have been asked to identify Thais who are guilty of hunting rhinoceroses there.
In March, the 16th meeting of the Conference of Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora will be held in Bangkok. Thailand is presumably in the dock at that meeting because the country is a hub for trade in African ivory. There is also talk about the trade in rhinoceros horns and the protection of tigers.
– Minister Chumpol Silpa-archa (Tourism and Sports), also Deputy Prime Minister, died yesterday of a heart attack at the age of 72. Chumpol was also party leader of coalition party Chartthaipattana.
On December 17, Chumpol passed out in Government House, but according to his older brother Banharn, his condition improved slightly afterwards. In recent days, however, he has deteriorated again.
Chumpol previously served as education minister in Chuan Leekpai's cabinet in 1997. He became leader of the Chartthaipattana party after the Chart Thai Party was dissolved by the Constitutional Court in 2008. Chumpol was Minister of Tourism and Sports in the (previous) Abhisit cabinet. After Pheu Thai's landslide election victory in 2011, Chartthaipattana joined Pheu Thai and Chumpol was able to remain in the same ministerial seat.
– Yesterday, the cabinet dug into its pockets during its mobile meeting in Uttaradit. It approved 111 projects in Sukothai, Uttaradit, Tak, Phetchabun and Phitsanulok provinces worth 51 billion baht. Of these, 33 projects (617 million baht) can be implemented immediately; feasibility studies are still being carried out on the others.
The most important decision, however, was the establishment of a special economic zone in Mae Sot on the border with Myanmar. For the time being, that status only applies to the tambons Mae Pa and Tha Sai Luad, an area of 5.600 rai along the Moei River. There is a lot on the wish list for that zone: a second friendship bridge, an industrial estate, transport centers, customs checkpoints, too many to mention. In particular, the trade should benefit from a 'one-stop service system', in other words one cash register for all procedures.
Economic news
– Of the 2,2 trillion baht that the government plans to borrow, 90 percent is intended for improving the railway network. The money will be spent over the next seven years, including on the construction of a high-speed line.
The aim of the operation is to reduce logistics costs. They make up 15,2 percent of gross domestic product in Thailand against 8,3 percent in the US. Ninety percent of the logistics costs go to transport costs, maintenance of the network and storage costs.
Thailand is 94,3 percent dependent on road transport against only 4,1 percent rail transport and 1,6 percent water transport. This ratio should change in favor of rail, because rail transport costs are the lowest compared to road and air transport.
On February 5, the cabinet will consider the proposal for that 2,2 trillion baht. The proposal consists of two parts: the first concerns financing and installments, the second consists of a detailed list of the planned investments, which are again divided into projects that can be implemented immediately and secondary projects.
– Small and medium-sized food processing companies will have a hard time this year due to weak demand from Europe and the US, the increase in the minimum wage and the appreciation of the baht. The Thai Food Processors' Association (TFPA) expects processed food exports to fall by 5 percent.
The large companies are not affected by the strong baht, because most have insured themselves against currency risks, but the increase is a problem for SMEs. The TFPA hopes that the price increase will be short-lived. This is currently caused by the inflow of speculative capital into the Thai market. If this trend continues, the TFPA will turn to the Treasury Department for help.
The TFPA expects 160 billion baht in exports this year, the same as in 2011, but 5 percent less than last year.
www.dickvanderlugt.nl – Source: Bangkok Post