News from Thailand – August 23, 2012

Pattawaran Panitcha, 21, was elected Miss Wheelchair on Wednesday Thailand. She defeated 11 other candidates. It was the second time the competition was held after 2002.

After the victory, Pattawaran stated that he wanted to be the voice of all disabled people 'to step out and face the real world'. Disabled as a result of a car accident since she was 16, she is now a second-year student at Thammasat University's Faculty of Social Administration.

– The police still assume that the death of Farut Thaith, the son of a parliamentarian, on Monday evening was the result of an aggressive car race between Farut's car and the car from which he was shot at. Both cars may have tried to overtake each other, with their headlights flashing furiously. The police bases this on the fact that shots were also fired from Farut's car.

Nevertheless, the police also take into account the possibility that a political or personal motive played a role. Farut's father was the mayor of Uthai Thani before being elected to the House of Representatives in 2007. He was re-elected in 2011. He is a member of the Chartthaipattana coalition party.

Yesterday the paper made no mention of any other occupants in Farut's car; today the newspaper reports that there were five passengers in the Toyota Prado. Apparently they survived the collision with an electricity pylon unscathed, because the newspaper does not mention injuries. After Farut was shot dead, the wagon slammed head-on into the mast.

Farut was on his way back to the Chateau De Khao Yai Hotelwhere he and his family lived. Father Chada returned in a friend's BMW. He and his friend were supposed to meet at McDonald's in Tesco Lotus, but they hadn't eaten there, as previously reported. The father considers it not impossible that he was the target, because he had driven the Prado on the way there.

– Ten armed men set fire to the showroom of a Honda dealer in Nong Chik (Pattani) on Tuesday night. Fifteen cars and two motorcycles went up in flames. The men stormed onto the grounds around 20:XNUMX am and forced the three guards to lie down on the floor. They poured gasoline on the cars, set them on fire and fled. Firefighters [?] extinguished the fire, but by then the wagons had already been lost. Shortly before, a telephone mast had been set on fire, presumably to keep the police away. The damage to the cars and motorcycles is estimated at XNUMX million baht.

– As predicted, the Criminal Court has revoked the bail of red shirt leader Yossawaris Chuklom. The other 18 red shirt leaders, including the recalcitrant red shirt leader Jatuporn Prompan, went unpunished on Wednesday. The withdrawal of bail had been requested by the Constitutional Court because of criticism of the Court.

Yossawaris had made it very brown, because he had called on red shirts to harass the judges by phone and he had rightly given their telephone numbers. The others had confined themselves to criticizing the Court for its June 1 decision to halt parliamentary consideration of the constitutional amendment bill. They had defended themselves with an appeal to freedom of expression.

The court's decision drew booing from supporters at the courthouse, but messages emerged on Twitter from red shirts agreeing with the decision. "It's a good lesson for a careless and emotional public speaker," one tweet read. Another: 'I like red shirts, but someone who does wrong deserves punishment. Aggressive red shirts need to tone down a bit.'

– If the Tax and Customs Administration has its way, the excise duty on spirits such as beer and wine will also increase. The excise duty on white and blended spirits and cigarettes already went up on Tuesday. An amendment to the law is required to increase the excise duty on beer and wine, because the maximum rate is already levied.

The Thai Health Promotion Foundation welcomes the increase in excise duty on spirits and cigarettes for the first time in three years. The foundation expects that the number of smokers will decrease by 60.000 to 70.000 people, but the foundation does not consider a reduction in alcohol consumption to be likely.

– A boat trip for companies that want to bid on the government's anti-flood projects should give them an idea about the country's water resources. The excursion is an idea of ​​the Water and Flood Resources Management Committee. The trip should also allay concerns that certain companies are being favored in the tender because they are over information have that others do not have. The boat trip includes the Bhumibol dam in Tak and the Pasak Chonlasit dam in Lop Buri. So far, 359 companies have expressed an interest in the works.

- A heavy rain shower on Tuesday night, in combination with a high tide that prevented the rainwater from draining, led to flooding in Phuket. Numerous places in Muang, Thalang and Kathu were damaged. Patong also did not escape the dance. Traffic came to a standstill, eight schools suspended their classes and some flights were delayed. In some places the water reached a height of 1 meter. By 4 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon, the situation began to return to normal.

– Leave my friend alone, or I will see to it that you are transferred. Pheu Thai MP Chalong Riewraeng should not have said that to the then head of Khao Laem National Park (Kanchanaburi), because now the dolls are dancing.

The friend threatened to be taken to court for illegally taking possession of land. Pheu Thai party leader Yongyuth Wichaidit has ordered an investigation. The threat was made known through an audio clip on YouTube. Chalong claims to have merely tried to mediate between the park head and his friend.

– Farmers in Phatthalung province are switching to growing regular rice instead of the indigenous sangyod rice. They do this so that they can harvest three times a year and benefit from the high prices paid by the government. Sangyod grows too slowly for three crops.

According to Chakkrit Samakkhi, a major producer of sangyod rice, cultivation has declined by 20 to 30 percent. However, he continues to grow sangyod because it yields 18.000 to 20.000 baht per ton, while the government pays 15.000 baht per ton for ordinary rice.

In Songkhla, farmers have taken over their fallow fields, also to take advantage of the rice mortgage system. Until now, 40 percent of the fields in the Ranot district were fallow.

In Phatthalung and Songkhla, farmers report fraud by merchants. They take old rice from warehouses and offer it to the mortgage system under the guise that it has just been harvested.

– The US space agency Nasa is prepared to resume the canceled climate study in Thailand as soon as parliament gives the green light. This is what Minister Plodprasop Suraswadi (Science and Technology) says. He visited the US last month. NASA canceled the study because Thailand did not grant timely permission for the use of U-tapao naval air base as a base for the study.

– Residents along the Kwae Noi River in Kanchanaburi should expect flooding because water is discharged from the Vajiralongkorn reservoir, which was 22 percent full on August 78,31.

– Correction: Bangkok Post reported yesterday that no fingerprints had been taken from the two suspects of arson in the CentralWorld shopping center in 2010. They were taken, but did not end up in the file.

– The consequences of transferring a debt of 1,14 trillion baht from the government budget to the Financial Institutions Development Fund (FIDF), part of the Bank of Thailand, are now beginning to be felt. Money market rates and government borrowing costs have risen. An auction of government debt has therefore been canceled by the Public Debt Management Office because the costs were too high.

The misery started when the government passed on the debt of 1,14 trillion baht, left over from the 1997 financial crisis, to the central bank at the beginning of this year in order to create room in its own budget. In order to be able to pay interest and principal, the central bank was forced to increase the so-called deposit-guarantee contribution of banks from 0,4 to 0,47 percent of their deposits. This contribution is levied by the Deposit Protection Agency (DPA) to insure the bank balances. The state banks, which were previously exempt from the contribution, also had to pay.

Tachaphol Kanjanakul, president of the Government Savings Bank (GSB), one of the three state-owned banks, signaled the higher costs during the (cancelled) auction. Previously, the bank could win a bond auction with a bid of 3,45 percent, now it was 3,9 percent with the next best bidder at 4,25 percent. The higher rate is the result of the additional costs of the GSB now that the bank must also contribute to the DPA. Tachapol says that the consequences are more serious than expected and he therefore believes that the regulation should be reviewed.

– Thailand needs to quickly restructure its agricultural sector, because the country's main agricultural products can no longer compete on the world market. The National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) advocates supply management, crop zoning and adding value to agricultural products.

The prices of crops such as rice, rubber and sugar now depend on the world market and supply, requiring government intervention when prices fall. This year, agricultural prices already plunged by 9,3 percent on an annual basis in the second quarter as a result of a slower world market.

Thailand is now the world's second sugar exporter and is in danger of losing its leading position as the largest rice exporter. Because most sugar is shipped as a primary product, the industry should look to add value by, for example, developing high-quality sugar for specific markets, the NESDB says.

Rice exports are under pressure because more and more Asian countries are becoming self-sufficient. Vietnam has developed its agricultural sector at a rapid pace, Cambodia is self-sufficient and Indonesia is trying to increase yields to reduce imports.

According to the NESDB, community farms are an alternative for farmers to increase their income and add value to their products. Animal husbandry should be given priority, as domestic consumption of milk and eggs is too low; higher consumption would benefit public health.

– Rice exporters and millers are pleased with the decision of the Ministry of Commerce to auction more than 750.000 tonnes of (milled) rice and paddy (unmilled rice) from government stocks. "The auction comes at the right time, because the supply in the market is very tight at the moment," said Chookiat Ophaswongse, honorary president of the Thai Rice Exporters Association.

It is the first time the Yingluck government has sold rice since it introduced the much-criticized rice mortgage system last year. The government has now bought 17 million tons of paddy, which means that there is a stock of 11 million tons of ground rice (when everything is ground).

The sale will enable exporters to fulfill foreign orders, such as 200.000 tons of parboiled rice to African countries and 70.000 tons of milled rice to Iraq and Japan.

Chanchai Rakthananon, president of the Thai Rice Millers Association, expects many packers to bid as rice is much needed in the domestic market. He believes that the government should gradually sell rice to avoid an impact on the domestic price.

The price of a kilogram of ground rice rose this week from 16 to 18 baht and of Hom Mali (jasmine rice) from 30 to 32 baht. Nevertheless, Chookiat thinks that auctioning rice has little effect on market prices. The export price of Thai rice is now $560 per ton and $580 to $590 for parboiled rice. Due to the drought in the US and India, rice prices will rise, but not as much as in 2008, Chookiat expects.

– Last February rubber did 180 baht per kilo; over the next four to five years, the rubber farmers can be happy if they catch 77 to 90 baht. That is the prediction made by the Center for International Trade Studies of the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce. The ongoing euro debt crisis, the small increase in countries that use rubber and the increasing production in Southeast Asia are responsible for this.

Since 2003, the area under rubber plantations has increased annually by 2,71 percent. Indonesia has the largest area, followed by Thailand, Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar. The first three countries account for 70 percent of world production. They recently decided to cut production and cut down old trees. Thailand exports 3,5 million tons worth 600 billion baht annually. Rubber did 81,18 baht per kilo last Friday.

– Thai Edible Oil Group, producer and distributor of King rice bran oil, is to build a new factory in Nakhon Ratchasima. The plant will come into production early next year and increase total production from 300.000 to 500.000 tons per year.

The oil is increasingly used; in recent years, King's sales have increased by 25 percent per year. To meet the growing demand, a new oil is introduced: pure rice bran oil, but it costs 20 percent more. Rice bran shortening and shortening received a good response from producers who make baked products. Another product will be bran oil non-dairy creamer.

– By the end of the year, 80 percent of factories in 20 industries must dispose of their waste in accordance with the law. The Industrial Works Department already had that target for August 2011, but the counter remained at 70 percent. The IWD will ask each province to draw up a plan. The Industrial Waste Management Bureau is given a greater role in controlling hazardous waste.

A study found that 45 percent of 1.781 factories in 15 industries that are located outside industrial sites dispose of their waste legally. Of the 224 factories on industrial estates supervised by the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand, 57 percent are doing well. [I don't understand where that 70 percent comes from.]

– The government has revised its export growth forecast from 15 to 9 percent, says Finance Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong. But that 9 percent is still more than what the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) predicts. On Monday, she adjusted her forecast from 15,1 to 7,3 percent. In the first half of this year, exports contracted in monetary terms by 2,1 percent on an annual basis, partly as a result of last year's floods.

Still, one-fifth of factories flooded last year have had to resume production due to delays in equipment imports and replacements. The NESDB urges the government to speed up customs clearance procedures so that the affected companies can complete their recovery efforts.

To the surprise of analysts, the Thai economy grew by 4,2 percent on an annual basis in the second quarter. In the first quarter that was only 0,4 percent. The government maintains its forecast of 7 percent, slightly higher than the NESDB's forecast of 5,5 to 6 percent.

The Thai Chamber of Commerce (TCC) says exports will not increase much in the next four months. Exporters mainly encounter problems with bureaucracy and taxes, and these problems cannot be solved quickly. The TCC therefore does not believe that the government's 7 percent will be achieved because exports are the main growth engine.

– There is no progress with the planned construction of a dike around the Saha Rattana Nakorn industrial estate. It is certain that the dike will not be there at the start of the rainy season, as long as those involved continue to argue. A complicating factor is that the management company of the site is in bankruptcy proceedings.

Initially, soldiers would construct an earth dike, but the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand later decided that a laterite dike was better. As a result, the construction does not cost 30 million baht, but 48 million. The 6,6 kilometer long dike will have a height of 7,5 meters above sea level, 25 cm higher than where the water came last year.

www.dickvanderlugt.nl – Source: Bangkok Post