News from Thailand – October 22, 2013

From Thursday 24 to Monday 28 October, the Chidlom branch of the Central Department Store will be one big sea of ​​flowers. Themed East-meets-West will be the Anniversary Flower Extravaganza held, this year with an extra festive touch because of the department store's 66th anniversary.

The floral decorations consist of tropical flowers and traditional Thai garland where horticultural ideas from the West are applied. The decorations are made by florists from the department store with the help of teachers and students from the Phra Tamnak Suan Kularb school. There will be flower arranging workshops on 25, 26 and 27 October.

- Bangkok Post opens today with new calculations of the loss on the controversial rice mortgage system. Pridiyathorn Devakula, who put the loss over the past two years at 425 billion baht, has recalculated and now comes out at 466 billion baht (See the bottom of the post for the figures).

The government, through Secretary of State Yanyong Phuangrach (Trade), disputes his calculation; the loss is at most 200 billion baht. 'That is impossible', says Pridiyathorn, who relies on information from the ministry itself. "Either the ministry understands the case but hides the loss figures or it does not understand it at all."

According to an article released yesterday by the Thailand Development Research Institute, the different amounts can be explained by the method of calculating the value of the rice in stock. Pridiyathorn calculates this on the basis of the market price, the government on the basis of the guaranteed price it has paid to the farmers: 15.000 baht per ton, a price that is approximately 40 percent above the market price.

According to Minister Kittirat Na-Ranong, Pridiyathorn does not understand the accounting of the mortgage system. And that is, to say the least, a curious reproach because Pridiyathorn is a former governor of the Bank of Thailand, former prime minister and former finance minister.

– The relatives of three of the five Thais, who died in the plane crash in Pakse (Laos) last week, demand the maximum payment of 15 million baht per person from the insurance company. Yesterday they consulted with Lao Airlines, the insurer and Laotian authorities. It is not known whether the insurer agrees to this. Earlier, Lao Airlines announced that the relatives would each receive 150.000 baht and that they would provide transport to Thailand.

During the negotiations, the next of kin criticized the slow progress being made in the search for the two missing bodies. The newspaper reports that there was an argument about this. The bodies of the three Thai found will be flown to Thailand today.

The crash killed all 44 passengers and the 5 crew members. Meanwhile, 43 bodies have been recovered from the Mekong River, where the device lies on the bottom. The black box has been located, but has not yet been recovered from the water. The Thai military team that assisted in the search is withdrawing today. The Laotians can now manage on their own.

– Minister Chalerm Yubamrung (Employment) became unwell in his office yesterday and was taken to the Ramathibodi hospital. In a statement, the hospital says his condition is not worrisome. Chalerm was previously operated on for a subdural hematoma. Before the last change of cabinet, Chalerm was Deputy Prime Minister and responsible for security policy in the South, which he visited once after much insistence.

– A cloth for the bleeding or a serious answer to the protests against the Mae Wong dam in the national park of the same name? The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has formed a committee to study the pros and cons of the dam.

Last month, protests against the dam peaked with Sasin Chalermsap's walking tour from the planned site to Bangkok. During the walking tour, the group swelled and in the capital the runners were greeted by thousands of supporters.

Sasin is also allowed to participate in the committee. At yesterday's first meeting, three sub-committees were formed to look into the economic benefits of the dam, its impact on wildlife, ecology and biodiversity, and the dam's capacity to prevent flooding and provide water for irrigation purposes.

Parallel to the committees' study, an environmental and health impact assessment is being conducted by the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning. A first version of it has been rejected.

Sasin says the committee acts as a platform to inform the population about the dam. 'Maybe the dam will eventually be built, but then the population will have the right information and a better understanding of the consequences for the forest and what we will lose when the dam is built.' Sensible man, that Sasin, not a hothead.

– Ecological Alert and Recovery Thailand (Earth) urges the government to regulate the amount of lead in paint. Laboratory testing of paints sold on the market has shown that they contain high concentrations of the toxic metal. There are currently no rules; manufacturers voluntarily limit the lead content, but it is not always stated on the label.

Earth tested 120 enamel paint samples from 68 brands in June. 95 samples contain more than 100 parts per million (ppm) lead. The yellow paint samples contained 95.000 ppm and of the lead samples, 29 came from products with no lead labeling on the paint can. The samples were collected in Bangkok, Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani, Ayutthaya, Chachoengsao and Samut Prakan. They were tested in a laboratory in Italy. In the US, house paint cannot exceed 90 ppm.

The Royal College of Pediatricians has found high levels of lead in their blood in 197 of 1.256 children who live near industrial sites. A research team visited the homes of 50 children with the highest levels. All those houses were painted with enamel-based paint.

The parliamentary committee on industrial affairs already proposed to the government last year to take measures against the use of heavy metals in paint. She also recommended that only safe paints be used in schools and public buildings. In August, the cabinet approved a proposal from the National Economic and Social Advisory Council to encourage schools to use paints with less than 90 ppm. The Thai Industrial Standard Institute approved a measure [?] for enamel this month. The measure limits the level of heavy metals, including mercury.

– Last month, customs intercepted animal horns and skulls smuggled from Germany. A total of 43 animal parts were seized as well as numerous branded products, wood, food and drugs with a total value of 65 million baht.

– Opposition party Democrats yesterday launched a two-month anti-corruption campaign. Yesterday it was exactly 2 years ago that Pheu Thai came to power. Since then, corruption has cost the country a lot of money, according to opposition leader Abhisit. He criticized the tender procedure for the waterworks (of 350 billion baht): it was opaque.

The government's inability to properly manage the country has resulted in the population facing a higher cost of living. We will inform the population about the economic and political problems, so that they know that the government is setting the wrong priorities. She is only concerned with promoting her own interests and those of her allies.'

During the campaign, the party goes into the country to visit areas where the population suffers from corruption. The population is called upon to express its opinion via online social networks and the party's Facebook page.

– Thailand and Cambodia must talk to each other before the International Court of Justice in The Hague makes a ruling in the Preah Vihear case. The government is committed to keeping bilateral relations intact, says Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul (Foreign Affairs). Yesterday, Prime Minister Yingluck met with him and government departments to discuss the matter.

The army has asked the minister to urge Cambodia to keep its soldiers in check. When Cambodian soldiers fire into Thai territory, fire is returned, but Thai soldiers will not fire first, army commander-in-chief Tanasak Patimapragorn and army commander Prayuth Chan-ocha said, a Defense Ministry source said.

Prime Minister Yingluck has canceled her planned trip to Ethiopia. She wants to be in Thailand when the court delivers its verdict on November 11.

If I look at the developments in this way, I suspect that Thailand already assumes that it will lose. The Court rules on the ownership of the temple's surroundings. An area of ​​4,6 square kilometers is disputed by both countries.

– It has been quiet for a while around the protesting rubber farmers in the South, but they will be back in action on Saturday. They then hold a rally at the Ban Thammarat market in tambon Thong Mongkol (Nakhon Si Thammarat) to reinforce their demand for a higher price for rubber and palm kernels. Farmers from fourteen southern provinces plus Prachuap Khiri Khan and Phetchaburi join the protest.

On Thursday, farmers in the Bang Saphan district will receive the promised subsidy of 2.520 baht per rai, but the dissident farmers want more: 100 baht per kilo unsmoked rubber sheet and 6 baht per kilo of palm kernels.

Because of the roadblocks at the beginning of last month and clashes between demonstrators and police, the police have issued an arrest warrant against a further seventeen people. The message does not state how many farmers have already been arrested or imprisoned.

– The woman, who is held responsible for the fire in Khlong Toey, in which fifty wooden houses went up in flames, has been arrested. She has admitted to setting fire to a pile of clothes after an argument with her husband, which she should not have done, because first her house was destroyed and then the 49 others.

– The body of a paramilitary ranger was found in a rice field in Khok Pho (Pattani). He had been hit on the head with a sharp object.

On Sunday evening, two M79 shells were fired at the district office of Mayo (Pattani), but they missed their target.

– The government has donated 6 million baht for aid to the victims of the floods in Cambodia. Yesterday the Cambodian ambassador received the money. The money will go to the Cambodian Red Cross.

– As promised, the traffic police would start Monday with the removal of improperly parked cars on the ten busiest roads in Bangkok. And that happened: 22 cars had to believe it.

Political news

– The squabble over the amended amnesty proposal continues. Relatives of the people who died during the red shirt riots in 2010 opposed the blank amnesty, which would keep the authorities out of harm's way.

On Thursday they will gather at the Democracy Monument in Bangkok to march from there to parliament to express their displeasure. The changes have been made by the parliamentary committee, which has scrutinized the proposal of Pheu Thai member of parliament Worachai Hema. The (original) proposal has already been approved by Parliament in the first reading and will be discussed in the second and third readings next month.

As it stands, former Prime Minister Thaksin, the army, former Prime Minister Abhisit and former Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban are benefiting from the amnesty and the bereaved are not happy, said Payao Akkahad, the mother of a nurse who died in Wat Pathum Wanaram was shot dead. She accuses government party Pheu Thai of not listening to the population. [The parliamentary committee that made the controversial decision consisted mostly of Pheu Thai MPs] Payao says Pheu Thai is just following Thaksin's instructions to help him return to Thailand.

Payao points out that even Abhisit is against a blank amnesty. He is ready to answer for himself in court and prove his innocence. "The government has no reason to continue with a blank amnesty," said Payao.

– What prompted the government to extend the Internal Security Act that is in force in three districts of Bangkok until the end of November, Manop Thip-osod wonders in an analysis in Bangkok Post.

She suspects that this decision has everything to do with the amended amnesty proposal. The government wants to prevent the demonstrators who have now pitched their tents in Uruphong (outside the area covered by the ISA) from marching to parliament. Until now, that area has been hermetically sealed with concrete barriers and riot police are kept behind.

Manop thinks the Uruphong protest will play a more important role now that other groups have called on their supporters to support the protest. She thinks the disgruntled rubber farmers in the South will support the protest.

Nice detail: a certain politician in Bangkok makes sure that the demonstrators fill their stomachs and the municipality of Bangkok has made mobile toilets and generators available.

Comments

– The amended amnesty proposal and the Preah Vihear case could well be the proverbial fuse in the powder keg, writes Veera Prateepchaikul in his weekly column 'Think pragmatic' in slightly different terms Bangkok Post.

As reported yesterday in the article 'Amnesty proposal: Opponents sharpen the knives', critics of the changes assume that former Prime Minister Thaksin can now also benefit from the proposal. He could avoid jail time and reclaim the 46 billion baht seized from him.

A silent coup, Veera calls the changes. But for ruling party Pheu Thai and Thaksin it is not a matter of life and death. It's just a gamble. When they lose and the masses revolt, Pheu Thai can withdraw the proposal and try again later: that has been shown before.

At the moment, no one can say whether there will be mass protests, writes Veera. The best way to find out is to measure the political temperature on Uruphong. Demonstrators have descended there since last week in protest against the constitutional amendments. The question is whether the protest leaders will use the amnesty issue to stir up anti-Thaksin sentiment in Bangkok. For the time being, the number of demonstrators is not enough: a few hundred during the day and occasionally several thousand in the evening.

The Preah Vihear case could also spark anti-government protests if the International Court of Justice in The Hague rules in favor of Cambodia and allocates the temple's surroundings, including the disputed 4,6 square kilometers, to Cambodia. Veera hopes not; he hopes the Court will come up with a solution that brings peace and prosperity to both countries. (Source: Bangkok Post, October 21, 2013)

Economic news

– The Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC), which pre-finances the mortgage system for rice, can breathe again. Of the 270 billion baht needed for the new rice season, the bank receives a guarantee from the Ministry of Finance for a loan of 140 billion baht. The rest has to be coughed up by the Ministry of Commerce through rice sales.

In previous reports, it seemed that the BAAC was no longer eligible for a guarantee from the ministry, because the limit of guarantees granted had already been exceeded. But apparently the ministry was able to find another hole. The law requires the ministry to guarantee loans up to six times the capital of the bank, which amounts to 600 billion baht.

Over the past two years, the BAAC has paid 679 billion baht to 4,2 million farmers. They received the guaranteed price set by the government of 15.000 (white rice) or 20.000 (Hom Mali) baht per ton. In the coming year, this will remain the case in the main harvest, but 13.000 baht will be paid for white rice in the second harvest. The maximum that farmers can hand in has also been lowered. The government expects to buy 16,5 million tons.

The 679 billion baht is 179 billion more than the maximum that the government is willing to bear in losses. The Department of Commerce has now repaid 130 billion; the remaining amount must come from rice sales before the end of the year.

The BAAC has 1,21 trillion baht in loans outstanding. The bank has 1,02 trillion baht in deposits. At the end of September, the NPL (default) rate was 5,3 percent of total outstanding loans.

– Sales of notebooks have fallen sharply in Thailand this year. It was expected to be 5 percent, but it threatens to reach 20 percent. International Data Corporation (IDC), an IT market research company, blames high household debt and the slack economy. Tablets and smartphones, on the other hand, are doing well.

This year, 300 IT outlets have had to close, including those of SoftWorld and Hardware House International. Others move to cheaper locations. The Advice Holding Group Co has had to close five branches in shopping malls this year and IT City has closed two to three large stores. Normally the company opens five branches every year, now only two. The company plans to open ten small stores with an area of ​​100 square meters.

This year, 1,6 million notebooks are expected to be sold. IDC expects a recovery next year; at least 1 million notebooks will have to be replaced.

– The Indonesian airline Lion Air threatens to become a formidable competitor in the budget market when its subsidiary Thai Lion Air (TLA) starts flying from Bangkok from the last week of December. The aviation giant is starting with a twice-daily Bangkok-Jakarta flight, a daily Bangkok-Kuala Lumpur flight and three times a day Bangkok-Chiang Mai.

Next year China is on the program and on the domestic front TLA wants to fly from Don Mueang to Phuket, Hat Yai, Krabi and Phitsanulok. The company also has big plans for expanding the fleet. It will start with two new Boeing 737-900ERs, twelve will be flying by the end of next year and within five years the fleet will increase to fifty aircraft with the Boeing 787 'Dreamliner' for long distances.

TLA is 49 percent owned by Lion Air and 51 percent by a number of companies in the Thai travel industry, the names of which have not been disclosed.

– The interest in roof solar panels is disappointing. As of October 14, 564 applications have been made for a combined capacity of 83 megawatts, significantly less than the available 200 MW. The registration period has now been extended by one month. The Energy Regulatory Commission believes that the public needs more information about the program because it is a new idea.

Of the 564 applications, 385 were made by households and the others for commercial buildings. The committee and the Federation of Thai Industries will organize workshops in the coming month to explain the programme. It has been calculated that the investment in solar panels can pay for itself in seven years.

www.dickvanderlugt.nl –Source: Bangkok Post