News from Thailand – November 22, 2013

The illegal practice of whizzers picking up arriving passengers on Suvarnabhumi's departure deck is being curtailed.

Airports of Thailand, the manager of the airport, installed turnstiles at the beginning of this month. The measure aims to alleviate traffic congestion at the departure hall. Many taxi drivers wait there after delivering passengers.

The drivers also pose a security risk because the airport does not have their license. They overcharge passengers, refuse to turn on their taximeters and engage in other questionable practices.

Passengers arriving should take a taxi on the ground floor. Those drivers are registered with the airport. Passengers pay an additional 50 baht above the meter fare. They get a receipt with details about the driver in case they make a complaint. There are only taxis, which are not older than 2 years.

AoT also plans to make it a little easier for waiting passengers by issuing tracking numbers. People no longer have to stand in line. When they draw a sequence number, they can simultaneously specify their destination and the desired size of the taxi.

According to Minister Chadchart Sittipunt (Transport), the turnstiles are having an effect: the number of passengers taking a taxi on the ground floor has risen from 6.000 to 9.000 per day.

– The anti-government groups will expand the protest site on Ratchadamnoen Klang Avenue, so that there is more space for the 1 million people expected on Sunday. More speakers and video screens are coming.

The target of 1 million has been mentioned by rally leader Suthep Thaugsuban, who takes the rally stage of opposition Democrats every day. pep talk holds. He wants to eliminate the 'Thaksin regime', referring to the former Prime Minister Thaksin, who has lived in exile since 2008, and who still pulls the strings like a Big Brother.

Spokesperson Ekkanat Phromphan says the rally will continue beyond Sunday. Sunday is 'just the start' of a major rally to overthrow the government. The municipal police are concerned about Sunday's rally. She says she has intelligence that some people want to provoke violence.

Adul Narongsak, deputy chief of the municipal police, calls on the population to stay at home 'for their own safety'. He was referring to the detonation of an explosive device at the rally site of the Network for Students and People for Reform of Thailand that injured a police officer.

As a result of the explosion (that was all) the police increased the number of checkpoints from 12 to 23. On Monday, a soldier was arrested at the Phan Phi Hop intersection carrying a firearm.

– Because the king currently lives in his summer palace in Hua Hin, a large traffic flow to the South is expected on the 86th birthday of the monarch on December 5. All those cars take the Phetkasem Road, which is why the governors of the upper southern provinces have been asked to take traffic measures.

On December 1, the road is partially closed so that the royal guard can reach the Klai Kangwon palace undisturbed. They go there to rehearse for the traditional ceremony, pledging allegiance to the monarch. A first rehearsal was already held yesterday at the headquarters of the eleventh infantry regiment; a second will follow on Thursday. Twelve battalions of the royal guard and a battalion of regular troops take part in the oath-taking ceremony.

On the morning of December 5, the king holds an audience at the Rajpracha Samakhom Pavilion for members of the royal family and officials and the swearing-in takes place.

– A phone bill of 1,3 million baht after a 10-day trip for the Hajj to Mecca. The man who received this bill has filed a complaint with telewatchdog NBTC. He had a roaming data package of 350 baht a day for 25 megabytes a day and thought the service would be terminated when he reached his limit of 7.000 baht. But it didn't, because the service is not for Saudi Arabia.

According to the NBTC, customers pay a total of 100 million baht annually for these types of pranks. The NBTC advises customers to check from time to time how much credit has been used.

– The Prince Mahidol Award 2013 goes to a Belgian doctor and three American doctors for their efforts and/or research in the field of HIV/Aids. Peter Piot from Belgium is director of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. He plays an important role in raising awareness of AIDS and access to medicines to combat HIV. The awards will be presented at the Chakri Throne Hall in the Grand Palace complex on January 28.

– English language teaching projects in Thailand lack a clear objective, are not integrated into the curriculum, and lack a professional approach and outcome assessment. That is the conclusion drawn by Sa-ngiam Torut, lecturer at the Faculty of Education at Silpakorn University, after a comparative study.

She cites China as an example with the English Corners in schools, universities and neighbourhoods, Singapore with extensive reading programs and Vietnam, where the expertise of English teachers is being promoted.

Sa-ngiam warns against the plan to teach maths and physics in English. Malaysia did, but stopped because the students scored higher in English but lower in those subjects.

– In an attack on a house in Rueso (Narathiwat), agents arrested seven alleged members of the rebel group Runda Kumpulan Kecil. When the men saw that the house was under siege, the men had fled to a nearby rubber plantation, but their attempt to escape had no effect. Weapons, ammunition, military uniforms, sleeping bags and some other items were found in the house.

– Eighty residents of Phum Srol on the border with Cambodia paid tribute to the Thai ambassador in the Netherlands. They traveled to Bangkok and gave him a beautiful bunch of red roses at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a thank you for his work in The Hague at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The residents are grateful that, thanks to the work of him and his team, there has been no violence. They were accompanied by the governor of Si Sa Ket. The ambassador gave the residents an explanation of the judgment of the ICJ.

– The coffee seller with the sign that had a logo that looked very similar to Starbuck's has chosen eggs for his money and removed the sign. The case was settled amicably after Starbuck filed a lawsuit and demanded 300.000 baht in damages. The man's coffee shop is now called 'Bung's Tears'.

– The Ministry of Tourism and Sports has asked the Department of Special Investigation (DSI, the Thai FBI) ​​to investigate gold shops in Phuket that sell fake products. Thirty tourists recently filed a complaint about this. The most recent case concerns a Pole who was defrauded in Bangkok. Often tuktuk drivers cooperate, because they take tourists to the relevant shops. The DSI has twenty stores in Greater Bangkok and a few tourist destinations in its sights.

– After three days of torrential rain, some villages in Pattani and Yala have been flooded. The Pattani River has overflowed its banks. The situation could worsen if the low pressure area over Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat does not dissolve quickly.

– Bad luck for the producers of the Hollywood thriller The coup. Fire in a building in Lampang used as a studio destroyed eleven units on Wednesday evening. Pierce Brosnan, Lake Bell and Owen Wilson are said to have narrowly escaped the flames. The fire is believed to have started from an explosion special effects that's bad this time special was.

– The mermaid statue in Songkhla is a symbol for Samila beach and serves no other purpose. Visitors have wrapped it in yellow cloth and hung garlands of flowers as if it were a Buddhist statue. The municipality is not charmed by it; it does not help the image's reputation. The statue is inspired by the Little Mermaid in Copenhagen. The official name is Nang Nguek Thong (Golden Mermaid).

Political news

– The clash of arms between chamber chairman Somsak Kiatsuranon and opposition party Democrats seems to have come to an end. Somsak puts the requested censor debate on the agenda of the House. Earlier, he said the request was insufficiently substantiated and Democrats accused him of helping the government.

Somsak now wants to receive this extra information by Monday at the latest. The debate must take place before Thursday, because then parliament will go into recess. Observers point out that the prime minister cannot dissolve the House now, because the debate is on the agenda. Only after the debate and after the no-confidence motions have been voted on can that be done.

The Democrats are going to introduce a motion of no confidence against Prime Minister Yingluck, the Interior Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Plodprasop Suraswadi. The government whip expects the debate to take one day, the opposition whip says it needs three days.

– The Senate on Wednesday approved the proposal to borrow 2 trillion baht for infrastructure works. A group of senators, through the Senate President, asks the Constitutional Court to assess the legality of this proposal; the opposition submitted a similar petition to the Court on Wednesday. The opponents say the money can be allocated through the normal budgetary procedure; the current proposal gives the government a license to spend the money as it sees fit.

– The National Anti-Corruption Commission is getting busy. Except for the petitions I already mentioned in the posting 'Government party goes on the counterattackthe committee has received further petitions, all related to the Senate amendment proposal (which was rejected by the Constitutional Court on Wednesday). The NACC sweeps them all together and treats them as one case, which one NACC member says will occupy "some time."

I'll name them point by point:

• A group of senators is calling for criminal action against the MPs who voted in favor of the bill.
• Citizens are calling for criminal prosecution against the Pheu Thai MP who voted on behalf of party members. He used their electronic voting cards. Opposition party Democrats will make the same request. According to the party, he has violated the Computer Crime Act.
• Opposition Democrats and anti-government senators demand impeachment of House and Senate Speakers. They are accused of political bias during the parliamentary debate on the proposal.
• The Network of Students and People for Thailand's Reform is demanding the impeachment of Prime Minister Yingluck, both chamber presidents and the 310 MPs who voted in favor of the proposal. The network accuses them of dereliction of duty in violation of the constitution and politicians' code of ethics.
• The well-known group of 40 critical senators today submitted an impeachment petition against the 312 MPs (both from the House of Representatives and the Senate) who voted in favor of the proposal. If the NACC grants this request, the case will go to the Senate for impeachment.
• The newspaper report lacks what I read on the website, namely that the opposition party Democrats will make the same request as the senators next week.

Economic news

It's old news, but I'll mention it anyway. The government has signed a contract for the supply of 1,2 million tons of rice and 900.000 tons of tapioca with the Chinese state-owned company Beijing Great Northern Wilderness Rice Industry in Harbin in northeastern Heilongjiang province. How much Thailand catches has not been disclosed other than that the price is based on the world market price.

The sale of the rice is extremely timely, because Thailand's grain silos are bursting with rice that has been bought from farmers at a guaranteed price in the past two seasons. According to the government, the stock still amounts to 10 million tons, but industry sources consider 16 to 17 million tons more likely. As is well known, Thailand hardly manages to sell rice because the price is too high.

Surasak Riangkrul, director general of the Foreign Trade Department, said Thailand is currently negotiating rice sales with Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines and countries in the Middle East and Africa. He thinks things will improve next year with the export of rice.

So far this year, Thailand has exported 5,63 million tons of rice, 3 percent less than in the same period last year. The aim is 6,5 million for the entire year and next year 8 to 10 million tonnes. Since last year, Thailand has lost its lead as the world's largest rice exporter to India and Vietnam.

Over the past four rice seasons (two per year), the mortgage system has cost the mortgage system 683 billion baht in guaranteed prices paid and 89,5 billion baht in management expenses. Only rice worth 135 billion baht has been sold so far. The government has allocated 1 billion baht for the new rice season, which started October 270. Farmers who have handed in their rice have not yet seen a penny, because the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives does not have enough money in cash. The guaranteed price that the farmers receive is 40 percent above the market price, which makes the system heavily loss-making.

According to the Thai Rice Exporters Association, there is something fishy about the sale, but I don't understand the message about it. See: 'Government under fire for not disclosing value' on the newspaper's website.

– Italian-Thai Development Plc (ITD) is not withdrawing from the Dawei project in Myanmar. Work on the first phase of a small port has been halted, not because the company is said to lack capital, but to attract other investors [?].

A deep-sea port and economic zone will be built in Dawei, which will be jointly developed by Thailand and Myanmar. The project is progressing slowly because investors are not eager to put their expensive money into it.

ITD has a 75-year concession. The government estimates that the company has spent 3 billion baht on Dawei so far.

– Thailand will receive the following four new Japanese restaurant and food chains: Miyabi Grill Co, Central Restaurant Group (CRG), Kacha Brothers Co and Fuji Restaurant Group. Miyabi Grill is currently negotiating with Japanese relations about the opening of sushi and ramen shops. The Fuji Group will soon open Jojoen Yakiniku Restaurants in Bangkok.

The director of the Miyabi group is optimistic because Japanese food is considered healthy. The company is investing 50 million baht this year in the introduction of two new yakiniku-style brands. The first is Jousen Yakiniku & Bar, an authentic Japanese youth hang-out located in Mercury Ville Shopping Center on Chidlom Road and The Walk Kaset-Nawamin. The other is Wabi Sabi, a premium yakiniku eatery in Groove@CentralWorld.

www.dickvanderlugt.nl – Source: Bangkok Post

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