News from Thailand – April 24, 2014

He has been missing for a week and still no trace has been found of the activist Por Cha Lee Rakcharoen, who works for the ethnic Karen in Kaeng Krachan National Park.

After being arrested and released by forest rangers last Thursday, he has disappeared. A special task force from the Ninth Infantry Division is combing the area.

Residents suspect the park chief of having something to do with it, because in 2011 he ordered the burning of Karen's huts. They would be in a forbidden area. The residents led by Por Cha Lee have gone to court for this. Por Cha Lee has collected evidence and sought witnesses in that case.

The park head made a statement yesterday at Kaeng Krachan police station. He says he has nothing to do with the disappearance and claims not even to know that Por Cha Lee is due to appear next month 'for trespassing' [?].

In the picture the house of Por Cha Lee. See further Activist for ethnic Karen villagers missing since Thursday.

– To the surprise of many, former monk Phra Yantra Ammaro Bhikkhu (60, photo homepage) returned to Thailand last week. The monk, who was accused of insulting the Supreme Patriarch and a sexual affair 20 years ago, has been in the US all along. He is now no longer in danger of being prosecuted because the case has expired.

Bhikkhu still denies insulting the Supreme Patriarch. He was then in charge of an investigation into him in connection with a sexual scandal. Bikkhu is said to have slept with women and impregnated one. In 1995, when the girl was 5 years old, the case came before the Supreme Sangha Council.

Bhikkhu will return to the US on May 1. He intends to return to Thailand permanently when the political situation returns to normal. He came here because the monk who initiated him at the time is ill. Several of his former followers, mainly from Nakhon Si Thammarat, have visited him.

– US President Obama will visit four Asian countries for eight days, but he will skip Thailand. The visit was originally planned for October last year, but was canceled due to the partial government shutdown. Obama arrived in Japan yesterday.

– News agency Reuters does not back down from the story that navy people are involved in the smuggling of Rohingya refugees. Reuters and two Reuters journalists have been sued for defamation by a Navy captain, but have not yet been prosecuted.

That is already happening with two journalists from the website Phuketwan, who took passages from the Reuter story last year. They are prosecuted under the Computer Crimes Act, which has harsher penalties than if they were prosecuted for libel [under the penal code]. The Navy says the story damaged the Navy's reputation and is a matter of national security.

Whether Reuters and the two journalists will ever be prosecuted is uncertain, because they are abroad. Reuters hopes that the navy will withdraw the report. Reports from Reuters have allowed authorities to release 900 smuggled refugees held in Thailand, the British news agency says.

– The lawyer who assists Prime Minister Yingluck in the case at the National Anti-Corruption Commission, is trying again to get permission to have seven extra witnesses appear. They must acquit Yingluck of negligence, which she is accused of by the NACC. As chairman of the National Rice Policy Committee, Yingluck would have done nothing against corruption in the rice mortgage system. It's the lawyer's third time trying. He hopes that at least four of the seven will be admitted.

The NACC is expected to rule next month. If the committee finds Yingluck guilty, she must cease her work. The Senate then decides whether to impeach her. The NACC has already charged 15 people, including two former government officials, over a deal between the government of Thailand and China that was effectively a private transaction.

Secretary of State Yanyong Phuangrach (Trade) has asked the NACC to monitor the government's rice stocks [accumulated over the past two years]. A committee of the Ministry of Finance is said to have provided incomplete information, as a result of which the loss of the mortgage system is overestimated. That loss would be much smaller.

– A police officer made a fatal fall from a helicopter during training yesterday. He would have gotten his leg entangled in it rappel rope. The exercise, which took place at the police station on Vibhavadi Rangsit Road, simulated the evacuation of people trapped in a building.

– A ferry disaster, such as in South Korea, is highly unlikely, says the Marine Department, because distances here are shorter and the seaworthiness of the ships is constantly monitored. Tourists and car ferry users have nothing to worry about.

Thailand has two car ferry services: Trat-Koh Chang (5 km) and Surat Thani-Koh Samui (25 km). This service only takes place during daylight hours. Should disaster ever strike, there are plenty of ships nearby to provide assistance.

In two months, each trip will start with a video showing where the emergency exits and life jackets are.

– Prime Minister Yingluck discusses the role of the army on the day of the new elections today at a meeting of the Defense Council with the army top (the date has not yet been set). The elections must be prevented from being disrupted, as was the case on 2 February. Soldiers should take care of that. Another idea that has been floated is the establishment of polling stations on military bases.

– The court will decide on August 13 whether the people of Bangkok should go to the polls to elect a new governor. The Electoral Council asked for this because supporters of the current governor violated the Electoral Act during the election campaign a year ago. The Court will hear the Electoral Council and witnesses next month and in June. Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra has been suspended since the decision of the Electoral Council. His duties are performed by a Deputy Governor.

– Twenty-five retired soldiers came to a meeting of the newly established Rubbish Collection Organization (RCO) yesterday. Founder Rienthong Nanna made every effort to nuance earlier statements of his about the formation of an armed force. He should go on a hunt for anti-monarchists. Rienthong said he will now only seek legal action against palace critics.

Rienthong claims to have already formed XNUMX teams of "People's Army" volunteers to hunt down villains slandering the monarchy on social media, television, radio and newspapers.

He even aims for 10 million volunteers. [Oh yes, why not.] Volunteers are said to have tracked down three hundred anti-monarchists yesterday.

On Tuesday, Rienthong filed a report against a Thai-British woman who lives in England. She has written on social media that the RCO spreads hate. She finds the lèse-majeste law article outdated. Rienthong says he is threatened by armed groups. Last month, the hospital, of which he is director, was attacked with a grenade. The police have not yet identified the perpetrator(s).

– The well-known pro-government poet Kamol Duangphasuk (45) was shot dead yesterday in broad daylight in the parking lot of a restaurant in Lat Phrao (Bangkok). Witnesses say they heard five to six shots. Red Shirt leader Nattawut Saikuar says he has no idea what the possible motive could be. The police are also still in the dark.

– The red shirt radio station in Pathum Thani has been bombarded with a grenade for the second time. No one was injured. The message does not mention damage.

– The Electoral Council agrees in principle with new elections on 20 July. That date was preferred by former government party Pheu Thai on Tuesday during a meeting of the Electoral Council with all political parties. Next Wednesday, the Electoral Council will talk to the cabinet about the possibility of a Royal Decree announcing the elections. The Electoral Council and the government differ in opinion on whether a Royal Decree is necessary.

– The foreign ministers of the Asean countries are preparing a statement calling on Thailand to resolve its political conflict through negotiations and new elections. Ministers believe that elections could end the crisis and lead to national reconciliation. Asean leaders issued a similar statement in December.

– A 16-year-old girl was slightly injured yesterday morning in Chanae (Narathiwat) when a bomb intended for a pickup truck with two district chiefs and two defense volunteers exploded. The pickup truck was slightly damaged, but the occupants were unharmed.

– A case of fraud or not? Three already qualified teachers (they would also be brothers) participated in the recruitment exam for teaching assistants. One stated that he had taken part in a committee of inquiry to gain a better understanding of the entrance exam, so that he could better guide his students and help future candidates. He emphasized that he had no unfair motive for participating. 91.577 candidates took part in the two-day exam. There are 1.888 places available.

– The death penalty threatens for the woman who was arrested yesterday in Kanchanaburi on suspicion of collusion with a large drug network in Myanmar. In the arrest, police seized assets worth 100 million baht, including a house in Sai Yok (Kanchanaburi), firearms, gold ornaments, cash, cows and vehicles.

The woman who runs the network is still a fugitive. She is probably hiding in the Myanmar border town of Tachilek. She would still be active, using Karen tribesmen as couriers. In September, three members of the network were arrested. They are suspected of trying to smuggle drugs into Ratchaburi prison.

– The Royal Irrigation Department is trying again: Be careful with water, it calls on the population. Water resources are dwindling and drought has hit several parts of the country hard.

The amount of water in the country's two largest reservoirs, Bhumibol (Tak) and Sirikit (Uttaradit), available for domestic use and maintenance of the ecological system is 19 percent of the combined storage capacity.

The Meteorological Department expects the rainy season to start later than usual this year, which is next month. The problems are exacerbated because farmers in many places have not heeded the call to abandon the off-season rice cultivation. That can sometimes break them up badly because they don't get extra water.

In Nakhon Ratchasima, two districts have been declared emergency areas. Tents have been set up at the 32 district offices in the province to help people. For some, the drought has prompted them to move elsewhere, where there is still water. Example: a duck farmer has traveled from Buri Ram to Surin with 8.000 eggs to continue his business there.

The Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department reports that 42 counties (out of 77) are affected by the drought.

Economic news

– The government wants to try to sell three million tons of rice to the Philippines between this year and 2016. A Memorandum of Understanding with the archipelago should guarantee this, but the Thai Rice Exporters Association points out that such a MoU offers no guarantee whatsoever. In the past, the Philippines only bought rice from Thailand if they liked the price and quality.

The Philippines has a similar agreement with Vietnam and Cambodia. The MoU gives Thailand the opportunity to bid. Thailand did so three times in 2012 and 2013. With little success because in 2012 only 120.000 tons were sold and last year 680.000 tons.

Charoen Laothamatas, president of the TREA, thinks that Thailand should negotiate with the Philippines about increasing the import quota. Since 2010, the Philippines has imposed a 40 percent import tariff in return for which the country pledges to buy at least 367.000 tons of rice per year from Thailand.

In the last two years [when the rice mortgage system was in place] the government has been able to sell 7-8 million tons to other governments. Since October, 547.000 tons of white rice and Hom Mali have been sold through the Agricultural Futures Exchange of Thailand, raising 7 billion baht.

The government hopes to be able to sell 1 million tons through AFET and to collect 18 billion baht. AFET and G2G (government to government) deals are the two main channels for the government to get rid of its huge rice stock and pay the farmers who have been waiting months for their money.

www.dickvanderlugt.nl – Source: Bangkok Post

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